Top Taliban Prisoners
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar
Mullah Baradar is without question the top Taliban prisoner on the list. Kabul sees the high-ranking Taliban official as key to its negotiation efforts. Baradar, who formerly headed the Taliban's military and political wings, has shown both the intent and capability to facilitate talks between Kabul and the Taliban leadership.
Baradar was detained by Pakistani authorities in the southern city of Karachi in February 2010, reportedly for facilitating talks between Kabul and the Taliban command without approval. His arrest is seen as a main reason why earlier attempts at peace talks broke down.
Mullah Noorudin Turabi
Turabi, the Taliban's former justice minister, was freed by Pakistan in November 2012. During the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule in Afghanistan, the one-legged Turabi was considered a religious hard-liner and had legal responsibility for the regime's brutal public executions. Turabi was also reportedly behind the decision in 2001 to blow up Afghanistan's ancient Bamiyan Buddha statues, an incident that caused international outcry.
Turabi was captured in Afghanistan soon after the U.S.-led invasion but controversially released by the Afghan government in 2002. He was arrested in Pakistan in 2005. Reports suggest the 60-something Turabi is in poor health.
Anwar ul-Haq Mujahid
Mujahid is reported to have been released from a Pakistani prison in November 2012. He was the Taliban's military commander in eastern Afghanistan and head of Taliban operations in Tora Bora, the reputed hiding place of Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Mujahid was appointed as head of his own faction of the Hezb-e Islami after the demise of his father, Yunis Khalis. The elder Khalis, who died in 2006, was a militant commander in Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province, near the border with Pakistan. Anwar ul-Haq Mujahid was arrested by Pakistani authorities in 2009 and was a member of the Taliban's military council.
Mullah Abdul Ahad Jahangirwal
Jahangirwal is a former adviser to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar who was never promoted to a senior position. Jahangirwal, who was also the Taliban's spokesman in Kandahar, the group's spiritual birthplace, was arrested by Pakistani authorities around 2009.
Agha Jan Mohtassem
Mohtassem, a former Taliban finance minister, is Mullah Omar's son-in-law. He was reportedly arrested in the Pakistani city of Karachi around 2009.
Sayed Tayeb Agha
Agha is another close advisor to Mullah Omar. Agha was arrested as part of a wider crackdown on the Taliban by Pakistani authorities in 2009. He was detained in Karachi, like many Taliban members at the time. Some reports have suggested that he was arrested because he was seeking negotiations with Kabul.