The United States confirmed to The New York Times that its forces have captured the number one commander of the Taliban terrorist forces, and the number two leader in the terrorist organization.
In a secret joint American-Pakistani operation in Karachi, the Taliban's top deputy, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was nabbed several days ago, according to the Times, which said that the White House asked it to delay publishing the report in order to prevent damage to intelligence work in the field. Baradar also was an operative who was a close aide to al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden before the September 2001 attacks.
American officials said they hope the arrest will lead to the capture of other Taliban terrorists but added that the terrorist organization may have other people in the wings to replace Baradar. Still at-large is Taliban's founder and top commander, Mohammad Omar.
Taliban has denied the arrest. "He has not been captured. They want to spread this rumor just to divert the attention of people from their defeats...and confuse the public," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Assuming the Times report is true, the arrest is one of the most important since the United States war in Afghanistan began eight years ago, when the American invasion toppled the Taliban regime. The joint operation also reflects a new and high level of cooperation between American and Pakistani intelligence agents.
In Afghanistan, the U.S. Marines are leading a large offensive against Taliban, which has slowed troops with fierce resistance headed by heavy gunfire, snipers and booby traps, Reuters reported. At one point, helicopters and jets were called in to cover the U.S.-led NATO troops.
"We are making steady progress, but being very methodical about detecting and clearing routes in an area heavily saturated with IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices)," Marine Capt. Abraham Sipe told Reuters.
U.S. President Barack Obama has approved 30,000 more soldiers for the offensive in Afghanistan in an effort to prevent the return of the Taliban to power. The outcome of the current military campaign will probably have a significant impact on the political battle in Washington concerning the war and President Obama's foreign policy in the region.
One nagging problem for the president is the number of civilian casualties. NATO rockets on Sunday accidentally killed 12 civilians, but Afghan officials said 35 terrorists were killed in the first two days of the offensive as well.