Afghans say Taliban commander may be surrounded

Spin Boldak (Afghanistan), Apr 24: Afghan and NATO troops have surrounded more than 200 Taliban insurgents and their feared military commander Mullah Dadullah might be among them, a senior Afghan security official said today.

A Taliban spokesman denied that Dadullah was surrounded and said he was not even in Uruzgan province, where provincial security chief General Muhammad Qasim said the Taliban were surrounded.

''We got information that senior Taliban commanders came for a meeting in the area. We want to capture all of the Taliban including the commanders,'' Qasim told Reuters.

A spokesman for NATO force said they had no information about fighting in Uruzgan.

It is not the first time Afghan security officials have believed Dadullah, a one-legged commander in charge of the insurgency in the south of the country, was surrounded. Last year Afghan officials thought he had been killed in a battle.

Qasim said the group of Taliban had been surrounded for three days in Uruzgan's Charcheno district. He said there were civilians in the area and government forces were trying to get the Taliban to give up without a fight.

A Taliban spokesman rejected the report, saying Dadullah was in neighbouring Helmand province, not Uruzgan.

''No senior Taliban commander is surrounded in Uruzgan.

It's baseless disinformation,'' the spokesman for Dadullah, Shahabuddin Atal said by telephone.

Dadullah earned a reputation as a ruthless commander during Taliban rule. He has threatened to launch a big offensive this spring including thousands of suicide bombers.

Last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since US-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001. Violence has been picking up in recent weeks after a winter lull but a major Taliban offensive has yet to materialise.

Reuters>