World | Pakistan
Taliban leader arrested in Pakistan
Pakistani security agencies on Saturday arrested a senior Afghan Taliban official who had been released from prison in Afghanistan in 2007 in exchange for a kidnapped Italian journalist, intelligence officials said.
- Agencies
- Published: 17:30 January 3, 2009
Peshawar, Pakistan: Pakistani security agencies on Saturday arrested a senior Afghan Taliban official who had been released from prison in Afghanistan in 2007 in exchange for a kidnapped Italian journalist, intelligence officials said.
Ustad Yasar, who headed a Taliban information wing, was arrested in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, they said.
"Our security forces raided a house on a tip-off and arrested Ustad Yasar," said an intelligence official who declined to be identified.
The official said Yasar had been detained because he was a militant commander and involved in Taliban activities.
Yasar was among several Taliban leaders released by the Afghan government in March 2007 in exchange for kidnapped Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, a Taliban spokesman said at the time.
Another Pakistani security official said Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had sent Yasar to mediate in a dispute between Taliban factions in northwest Pakistan.
Yasar was first arrested in Pakistan in 2005 and handed over to the Afghan government.
Share this article
Related Articles
More from Pakistan
More from World
News Editor's choice
-
Reader helps police to bust brothel
More than 20 gang members recently arrested from running brothels in Dubai
-
Philippine areas under emergency rule
Toll rises to 46 in brutal kidnap and murder in the south
-
Obama seeks to reassure Singh on ties
Singh is on elaborate state visit that will include talks on US ties with Pakistan
