This just hasn't been a good six months for Mansoor Dadullah. First, Dadullah was dismissed from his senior leadership post with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan by Mullah Omar and now, as Dadullah and a number of his Taliban members tried to cross into Pakistan, they tried to run the security road block and Dadullah was captured and critically wounded. All of his aides were captured as well.
Some reports have Dadullah being killed in the capture but the article here from Breitbart has been updated to show that he was critically wounded and flown to a hospital.
Now, I don't have a crystal ball but I have to believe that Dadullah was more than likely fleeing Afghanistan and trying to find refuge in Pakistan. My guess is he was fleeing his own Taliban brothers - you may remember that there were rumors that Dadullah had met with some British envoys to see about a "deal" to set him up as a provinicial leader if he turned against the Taliban.
Dadullah had denied being dismissed by the Taliban but all reports after that were clear that he was thrown out and in fact, Omar had issued a statement that Dadullah was out. It's my contention that Omar put a bounty on his head and that is what drove him to this reckless flight into Pakistan.
Some reports have Dadullah being killed in the capture but the article here from Breitbart has been updated to show that he was critically wounded and flown to a hospital.
Now, I don't have a crystal ball but I have to believe that Dadullah was more than likely fleeing Afghanistan and trying to find refuge in Pakistan. My guess is he was fleeing his own Taliban brothers - you may remember that there were rumors that Dadullah had met with some British envoys to see about a "deal" to set him up as a provinicial leader if he turned against the Taliban.
Dadullah had denied being dismissed by the Taliban but all reports after that were clear that he was thrown out and in fact, Omar had issued a statement that Dadullah was out. It's my contention that Omar put a bounty on his head and that is what drove him to this reckless flight into Pakistan.
Senior Taliban Figure Caught in Pakistan
Feb 11 07:05 AM US/Eastern
By ABDUL SATTAR
Associated Press Writer
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistani security forces critically wounded a top figure in the Taliban militia fighting U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, among six militants captured after a firefight near the border Monday, the army said.
Mansoor Dadullah, brother of the Taliban's slain military commander Mullah Dadullah, and the five others were challenged by security forces as they crossed from Afghanistan into Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan. They refused to stop and opened fire, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas.
"Security personnel returned fire. As a result all of them sustained injuries and all of them were captured," Abbas said. "Dadullah was arrested alive but he is critically wounded."
Earlier, a senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists, said Dadullah died of his wounds while being flown to a hospital with the other injured men.
(This version CORRECTS the earlier one that quoted a senior Pakistani military official as saying Mansoor Dadullah had been killed. Pakistan's army spokesman says Dadullah survived but was critically wounded.)
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