Chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed Mullah Baradar's arrest in a message sent to reporters, but did not give details about his capture.
Pakistani military today confirmed the arrest of top militant Mullah Baradar, considered second-in-command to elusive Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar, amid reports that he was captured from a seminary on the outskirts of Karachi during a joint ISI-CIA operation a week ago.
Chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed Mullah Baradar's arrest in a message sent to reporters, but did not give details about his capture.
His statement was the first official confirmation that Baradar is in the custody of Pakistani authorities.
Abbas said "detailed identification procedures" had been completed by authorities and that Mullah Baradar was among several people who were arrested recently.
The place of arrest and other details about the militant commander's capture could not be released for security reasons, he said.
The western media had yesterday quoted US officials as saying that Mullah Baradar, a key deputy of Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Muhammad Omar, was arrested last week in the southern port city of Karachi during a joint operation by operatives of the ISI and CIA.
Intelligence sources were quoted by the Dawn newspaper today as saying that Mullah Baradar was arrested with four accomplices from the seminary Khudamul Quran, which is located on the outskirts of Karachi, between February 7 and February 8.
Baradar and his accomplices were detained when they came out of the seminary, which is around 10 to 25km from the main toll plaza of the super highway, in a vehicle. "It was a swift operation which surprised them and they didn't get a chance to put up any resistance," the report said.
The five arrested men are being interrogated by intelligence operatives at an unspecified location, it said.
Baradar, said to be the key military strategist for the Taliban in Afghanistan where the allied forces have launched a major offensive against them in Helmand province, is considered more dangerous than even Mullah Omar.
"Baradar was leading the fight against the allied forces for the last nine years," a source said.
Pakistani and American intelligence agencies are viewing his arrest as a major breakthrough in fight against terror.
"The detention of Baradar is meant to give out a clear message to militant groups that Pakistan is no longer a safe haven for Taliban," another source said.
He said that the arrest came after pressure from the US which has from time to time said that some top Taliban commanders had established safe houses in Quetta and Karachi, something which the Pakistan government denied.
"The arrest of Baradar is part of the ongoing crackdown on Taliban and other militant groups who were trying to establish a foothold in Karachi," a top police official said.
A senior member of MQM, which claimed that there was a growing presence of militant and Taliban activists in Karachi, said the arrest of Baradar confirmed this was true. "At least now the government has realised this and is cracking down on these elements who are a danger to this country."
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