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U.S. Troops Arrest Taliban Official
Monday, December 24, 2001
(9:03 AM ET)
By Saeed Ali Achakzai
Reuters

Short

CHAMAN, Pakistan -- Reuters
U.S. commandos have arrested a senior Taliban intelligence official in a lightning raid on a central Afghan province, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said Monday.

The commandos landed in helicopters in the Muqur area of central Ghazni province, surrounded the house where former deputy intelligence minister Abdul Haq Waseeq, was staying, and took him prisoner, the private news agency said.

Coalition spokesman Kenton Keith, at a news conference in Islamabad, could not confirm Waseeq's arrest but said: “He is definitely one who we are very interested in.”

In Pakistan, too, security forces were seeking senior Taliban leaders who taken refuge in border areas.
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2001 © Reuters, Ltd.

Dan