Free Republic

KABUL, Afghanistan - NATO-led troops and Afghan forces detained a prominent Taliban commander during a raid at a compound in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said in a statement Wednesday. The commander, whom NATO did not name, was captured in Gereshk district in Helmand province late Tuesday and is the first Taliban leader captured by NATO-led and Afghan troops, NATO said. The captured militant is wanted for questioning by Afghan security forces and managed to flee the latest offensive operation by Afghan and foreign security forces in southern Afghanistan, the statement said. "This seizure of a Taliban commander once again shows...

The US State Department has posted on one of its web sites a translation of a letter purportedly written this month by Osama bin Laden. The site, which offers threat assessments to US companies doing business abroad, does not say the letter is genuine. However, advertises a link to the translation under the heading "new security incident report" and asks readers to look at it. "The attention of web site readers is invited to a purported letter by Osama bin Laden to the people of Afghanistan in late August 2002," the site said. A password is required to access the...