An Afghan official has said Pakistani officials have confirmed that they have arrested top Taliban commander Abdul Kabir. Siamak Herawi, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said Thursday that Kabir was detained a week ago in Pakistan. The arrest of Kabir, who ran Taliban operations in eastern Afghanistan, is part of a recent crackdown on insurgents in Pakistan. Among them is Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar - second only to the Taliban's leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar. Baradar was arrested near Karachi several weeks ago. Nearly 15 senior and midlevel Taliban figures have been detained in Pakistan in recent weeks. Some of the Taliban leaders were picked up after they fled Afghanistan ahead of a major military assault under way in southern Afghanistan, two Pakistani intelligence officials said. Meanwhile, Pakistan has agreed to hand over to Afghanistan Mullah Baradar, and other militants, the Afghan president's office said. Pakistan had no immediate comment on the Afghan government's statement Thursday, but late Wednesday said Mullah Baradar was being investigated for crimes in Pakistan and would be tried there in the first instance. “The government of Pakistan has accepted Afghanistan's proposal for extraditing Mullah Baradar and other Taliban leaders who are in its custody and showed readiness to hand over those prisoners ... on the basis of an agreement between the two countries,” a statement from President Hamid Karzai's office said.
