Pak's U-Turn: Confirms Taliban commander's arrest

Islamabad, Feb 17: In stark contrast to the earlier statement made by Interior Minister Rehman Malik, in which he termed the report on the arrest of Taliban Commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar as untrue, chief spokesman for Pakistan"s military has now confirmed the arrest.

In a message sent to reporters, Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed the report, noting after completing the detailed identification procedures it has been ascertained that Mullah Baradar was among the several people who were recently arrested.

However, he refrained from divulging further details, citing security reasons.

Maj Gen Abbas' statement is the first official confirmation about Mullah Baradar's arrest after The New York Times broke the report on Monday, Feb 15.

The confirmation also comes as an embarrassment for Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who vehemently denied the arrest, terming the report as 'propaganda' on Tuesday, Feb 16.

OneIndia News