Taliban’s spokesman held near D I Khan
Staff Report

ISLAMABAD—Law enforcement agencies have captured Mulla Abdul Latif Hakimi on Tuesday and is being investigated.
When contacted, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao told this scribe that Mulla Abdul Latif Hakeemi was chief spokesman of Taliban and his arrest is a major success.
He informed law enforcement agencies apprehended Mulla Abdul Latif near Dera Ismail Khan. However I can not provide further details with reference to this arrest, he added.
Mulla Latif was active since several days and was engaged in giving interviews to several newspapers and TV channels from unknown destination, Interior Minister told. However he has been arrested and investigations initiated, he added.
Interior Minister made no confirmation of any other arrest saying at present he will only make confirmation of arrest of Mulla Latif which is a big achievement.
Agencies add: The main spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents, Abdul Latif Hakimi, was arrested in Pakistan on Tuesday, the government said. “He was arrested a few hours ago. Intelligence agencies worked on a tip-off. More details will come later,” Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told reporters. Hakimi has been the main spokesman for the Taliban, who were ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001. He was frequently in touch with reporters, speaking by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location, although Afghan and U.S. officials have long suspected he was in Pakistan. Hakimi often made outlandish claims on behalf of Taliban fighters, saying they had inflicted huge casualties on U.S. and Afghan government troops. But his information was also, at times, very accurate.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Hakimi was arrested in Baluchistan province, which borders Afghanistan. “We’re interrogating him and we expect to get some important information from him,” he said. Asked if Hakimi would be handed over to the United States, as have other Taliban and al Qaeda militants arrested in Pakistan, Ahmed said: “First we will interrogate him and then we will see.” An official in Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s office welcomed the news.
“We are grateful for his arrest. Hakimi was someone who claimed the deaths of innocent people,” Khaliq Ahmad said. “We hope that his arrest leads to more arrests.” He could not say whether Afghanistan would request that he be handed over to Afghan custody. A U.S. military spokesman in the Afghan capital, Kabul, said he had no immediate comment. Hakimi last stated on Monday at around 4 p.m. (1100 GMT) to deny an Afghan government report that 31 Taliban insurgents had been killed in fighting with government troops. “They’re lying,” Hakimi said. “We were the attackers and we killed 11 Afghan soldiers. Only three Taliban were injured”.
The Afghan Defense Ministry said eight government troops had been wounded. Hakimi frequently vowed unending jihad, or holy war, against U.S. and government forces and angrily rejected suggestions of reconciliation. Late last year, responding to a U.S. call for the Taliban to lay down their arms, he said peace would not resolve Afghanistan’s problems. “They are the criminals for destroying our homeland,” he said of the United States. “Our problems will not be solved through peace. None of the mujahideen (holy warriors) will compromise with them and the mujahideen are standing against the enemies. “The door of reconciliation and peace is not open to us,” he said. “This is just a deception.” Hakimi’s telephone was switched off on Tuesday.