Pakistan Arrests Senior Taliban Figure

A high-ranking Taliban spokesman has been captured in Peshawar by the Pakistanis - this is a BIG catch for the Pakistanis. Ustad Mohammed Yasir made news a few years ago when he was arrested the first time by the Pakistanis who turned him over to the Afghans but soon after, the Afghans in cooperation with the Italians, released Yasir to get back some dumbshit Italian journalist that got kidnapped by the Taliban. The key to this capture is that this spokesman is at the level of Taliban head honcho, Mullah Omar. Here's some of the details from Breitbart:

Pakistan has arrested a former Taliban spokesman who was released by Afghanistan in 2007 in exchange for a kidnapped Italian journalist, intelligence officials said Saturday—a high-profile catch at a time when many in the West are concerned tension with India could distract Pakistan from fighting militants on the Afghan border.
Taliban leader Mullah Omar sent his former spokesman, Ustad Mohammed Yasir, to Pakistan last year to mediate between two Taliban groups in the Mohmand tribal area on the Afghan border, an intelligence official said.

Pakistani authorities arrested Yasir again Thursday during a raid on his relatives' house in the northwestern city of Peshawar near the Afghan border, said a second intelligence official. Security personnel are now interrogating Yasir, who served as the Taliban leader's spokesman after the fall of the regime, the official added. Omar escaped during the U.S.-led invasion, and his current location is unknown.

Now, I don't think this is any coincidence that Pakistan has captured this guy at this moment in time. Pakistan knows they are on the outs with U.S. and NATO commanders because they have pulled a ton of their troops out of the offensive in the NW tribal areas and also, Pakistan is in deep shit with India over covering for the terrorist masterminds behind the Mumbai massacre.

I mean really...Yasir is captured at his relatives house? Shit, he's probably been there for six bloody months! But all of a sudden now Pakistan comes up with this big capture. I'll tell you one thing....the U.S. needs to get their hands on this guy pronto because he will be a treasure trove of intel on Taliban plans. This will be the fascinating part of this story - who gets to hold Yasir and who gets to interrogate him.

Officials: Pakistan arrests senior Taliban figure

Pakistan's recent decision to redeploy troops away from the Afghan border toward India following tension over the deadly Mumbai attacks has heightened concerns that the fight against militants could languish. India has blamed Pakistani militants for the November attacks in India's commercial capital that killed more than 160 people.
Pakistan first arrested Yasir in 2005 and sent him to Afghanistan, where he was released along with four other Taliban members in exchange for Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, an intelligence official said.
The Afghan and Italian governments were heavily criticized for the swap—a step many observers feared would encourage more kidnappings.
Pakistani authorities arrested Yasir again Thursday during a raid on his relatives' house in the northwestern city of Peshawar near the Afghan border, said a second intelligence official. Security personnel are now interrogating Yasir, who served as the Taliban leader's spokesman after the fall of the regime, the official added. Omar escaped during the U.S.-led invasion, and his current location is unknown.
The intelligence officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The Pakistani government also has faced a low-level insurgency in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, where militant tribesmen accuse the national government of ignoring the region's development needs while pocketing revenue from the region's natural gas reserves.
Police blamed tribesmen for two attacks Saturday that killed three people and wounded 10 others.
A land mine killed two soldiers and wounded three others in the Baluchistan town of Uch when it exploded under their vehicle, said Mohammad Ishfaq Jamali, a local police officer.
Later in the day, suspected tribesmen hurled a hand grenade at a vehicle carrying soldiers in the provincial capital of Quetta, killing a civilian bystander and wounding seven others, said another police official, Mohammad Sharif.
The Baluch Republican Army, one of the main militant groups in the province, claimed responsibility for the land mine attack and for shooting at a passenger train Friday in an assault police said wounded 16 people.