NATO, Afghan Forces Claim Taliban Commander Arrested
January 17, 2007
January 17, 2007 -- NATO and Afghan government forces have arrested a senior Taliban commander in a raid in the south of the country.
NATO said in a statement that the arrest took place on the night of January 16 in Helmand Province. NATO declined to identify the commander, but said he had fled from a recent NATO operation in neighboring Kandahar Province to Helmand.
The arrest came as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was in Afghanistan, seeking ways to boost President Hamid Karzai's government and stop resurgent Taliban militants.
The Afghan government said on January 16 that authorities had arrested a purported Taliban spokesman and aide to the group's fugitive leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, after he crossed into Afghanistan from Pakistan.
(Reuters)