US confirms capture of Baradar

WASHINGTON-The White House on Wednesday confirmed the arrest of the Taliban military commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, calling it a 'big success for joint US-Pakistani efforts to combat extremists.
'It is a big success for our mutual efforts in the region, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. Despite breaking the White House silence on the arrest, Gibbs would not give details on what kind of intelligence Baradar was providing to US and Pakistani interrogators.
But he said the capture of the number two Taliban figure, confirmed by Pakistani authorities earlier on Wednesday, was 'significant.
President Obama was updated about US-Pakistan military cooperation in the fight against militants and the recognition on the Pakistani military side that extremists in their country posed not simply a threat to us but an existential threat to them, Gibbs said at the daily briefing.
'They (Pakistanis) have been working productively and cooperatively for more than a year now in assisting international efforts and cooperating in an effort to rid that area of violent extremists.
'I dont want to get into operational what or what might not come next, but obviously the capture of Mullah Baradar is a significant win, the White House spokesman added.
In Kabul earlier a top US envoy hailed the capture of the Taliban military commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, whose arrest could deal a heavy blow to the militias eight-year war in Afghanistan.
The arrest, confirmed by Pakistan, is the most important Taliban capture since the 2001 US-led invasion brought down the regime for sheltering al Qaeda after the September 11 attacks.
Visiting US envoy Richard Holbrooke said in Kabul that Baradar 'got caught and welcomed the arrest as a 'significant development, but gave no details.