Aussies capture Taliban leader

Kabul, Aug.11 : Australian Special Forces have captured a senior Taliban commander who was behind a wave of deadly roadside bombings.

Mullah Bari Ghul was captured in an operation last week, reports The Australian.

Bari Ghul was known as the shadow governor of Oruzgan province, a reference used by the Taliban to describe his status as the head of its underground operations in the southern province of Afghanistan.

Australian defence sources said that no Australian soldiers or Afghan civilians were hurt in the operation.

A Defence spokeswoman said the operation "caught the shadow governor and his supporters off guard".

Defence spokesman Brian Dawson said Bari Ghul was responsible for a "campaign of intimidation and violence" against the province's population.

He is alleged to have coordinated numerous attacks on both Afghan and international troops and facilitated the flow of money, equipment and foreign fighters into Afghanistan.

In particular, he is said to have green-lighted most of the improvised explosive device attacks across Oruzgan, such as those that killed Diggers Sean McCarthy and David Pearce.

After McCarthy's death, Chief of the Defence Force Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said Australian forces would target the bomb-makers.

Defence said the loss of Bari Ghul would hurt the enemy.

The Taliban militant is being held at a Dutch detention facility.

ANI