Pakistan arrests key Taleban leader
15:49, 12 September 2009
ISLAMABAD. September 12. KAZINFORM. The Pakistan Army said on Friday Taleban spokesman Muslim Khan and another top commander - Mahmood Khan - were arrested by the security forces. Other commanders of the Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan arrested in the army operation were Abdul Rehman, Fazle Ghaffar and Sartaj, an army spokesman said; Kazinform refers to Arab News.
Announcing the arrests of the two key Taleban insurgents, the army spokesman said the feared militia was on the verge of defeat after two years of carnage in the Swat Valley.
"Muslim Khan and Mahmood Khan with head money of 10 million rupees ($120,482) have been arrested by the security forces in a successful operation in Swat," Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said.
The country posted a reward of 50 million rupees (more than $600,000) for Fazlullah and offered rewards for 15 of his top lieutenants last May but Friday marked the first announcement of any arrest from the list. "The security forces are conducting operations on the information obtained from the arrested terrorist leaders," the military added; Kazinform cites Arab News.