Pakistan’s army said Tuesday it had captured a key Taliban and Al-Qaeda complex dug into rocky mountains close to the Afghan border after killing 75 local and foreign militants.

Commanders gave journalists a guided tour of the bastion, which one general said numbered 156 caves developed over five to seven years, and carved into sheer rock within clear view of the snow-capped peaks in eastern Afghanistan.

The visit follows Pakistan’s latest offensive against militants in its semi-autonomous tribal badlands, launched under US pressure to eliminate Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked groups who attack Western troops in Afghanistan.

Major General Tariq Khan accompanied journalists to the warren of caves in the area of Damadola that he said served as a key militant headquarters until troops overran the complex in an offensive launched in January.

“There were Egyptians, Uzbeks, Chechens and Afghans killed in the operation,” he told reporters.

Journalists saw bedding such as pillows and mattresses, which suggested inhabitants had camped out for significant periods.

“The first Pakistan army uniformed soldiers have arrived in Damadola after a recent operation and the Pakistan flag has been raised for the first time since (independence in) 1947,” said Khan.

Damadola, in the Bajaur tribal region, was the scene of a 2006 US drone strike that targeted Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who managed to escape.

Read more here.

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Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed for the first time that it has the Afghan Taliban’s No. 2 leader in custody, and officials said he was providing useful intelligence that was being shared with the United States.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was arrested around 10 days ago in a joint operation by CIA and Pakistani security forces in Karachi, US and Pakistani officials said on condition of anonymity Tuesday. The army on Wednesday gave the first public confirmation of the arrest.

”At the conclusion of detailed identification procedures, it has been confirmed that one of the persons arrested happens to be Mullah Baradar,” chief army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said in a written message to reporters.

”The place of arrest and operational details cannot be released due to security reasons.”

Baradar was the second in command behind Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar and was said to be in charge of the day-to-day running of the organisation’s leadership council, which is believed based in Pakistan. He was a founding member of the Taliban and is the most important figure of the movement to be arrested since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

The White House has declined to confirm Baradar’s capture. Spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters the fight against extremists involves sensitive intelligence matters and he believes it’s best to collect that information without talking about it.

Baradar, who also functioned as the link between Mullah Omar and field commanders, has been in detention for more than 10 days and was talking to interrogators, two Pakistani intelligence officials confirmed.

Read more here.

Yousuf Raza Gilani, Prime Minister of Pakistan, on a visit to Downing Street, today rebuffed Gordon Brown’s comments that Pakistan could do more to apprehend Osama Bin Laden, says The Times. “I doubt the information which you are giving is correct because I don’t think Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan,” Gilani said.

Brown, speaking in Islamabad at the weekend, rebuked Pakistan, complaining that nobody had been able “to spot or detain or get close” to Bin Laden or his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri. “If we are putting our strategy into place, Pakistan has to show that it can take on Al-Qaeda,” Brown said.

At today’s joint press conference, Brown praised Gilani for his role in taking on Al-Qaeda in the Swat Valley and South Waziristan. He also acknowledged the “huge sacrifices” made by Pakistan in combating terrorism.

“I think it’s important that the Prime Minister has signaled, as he has done in recent months, the real importance that Pakistan attaches to dealing with these problems and I can assure him of the UK’s full support in this matter,” Brown said.

Over 2,000 Pakistani civilians have died in terrorist attacks over the last year. These attacks have been sparked by government offensives against Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants operating in the Swat Valley and South Waziristan regions.

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US President Barack Obama’s plans to boost troop numbers in Afghanistan need to ensure there is ‘no adverse fallout’ on Pakistan, the country’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday, according to Dawn.com.

‘Pakistan looks forward to engaging closely with (the) US in understanding the full import of the new strategy and to ensure that there would be no adverse fallout on Pakistan,’ the ministry said in a statement.

Pakistani officials fear a dramatic increase in US troops in Afghanistan will push militants and refugees across its borders and complicate its own battle against the Taliban.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reports that Pakistan fears a US troop surge in Afghanistan would force fighters to flee to its border areas, particularly in the southwestern Baluchistan province where the government is already struggling to end a low-level insurgency by tribal fighters.

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Former German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung spent Thursday trying to hold on to his position as labor minister. But on Friday, after widespread calls that he throw in the towel, he gave in. Ulrich Wilhelm, the government’s spokesman, confirmed before gathered journalists in Berlin that Jung will no longer be a part of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet, reports Der Spiegel.

On Thursday evening, Jung had defended his handling of a controversial air strike in Afghanistan in September. But his defense appeared to rely on his not having read important documents related to the attack before he passed them along to NATO, leading to an increase in opposition calls for his head. The defense committee in the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, is set to meet to discuss the scandal.

In a brief statement on Friday, Jung said he was taking “political responsibility” for having misinformed the German public due to, he claims, a lack of knowledge regarding civilian casualties stemming from a Sept. 4 airstrike Afghanistan. He repeated his Thursday claim that he had “correctly informed both the public and the parliament” to the best of his knowledge at the time.

Germany’s top soldier, Bundeswehr Inspector General Wolfgang Schneiderhan, and Deputy Defense Minister Peter Wichert, resigned on Thursday. Having taken over the Defense Ministry in 2005, Jung moved over to head the Labor Ministry following Merkel’s re-election in September. His Friday resignation came after just 30 days at his new job.

The furore centers on Jung’s immediate claims following the Sept. 4 airstrike that no civilians had been killed. At the time, he announced that it was only members of the Taliban who had been killed when a German colonel called in a US air strike on two tankers that had been seized by the insurgents in Kunduz, near a German military base. However, it has subsequently emerged that civilians were most likely among the victims, with estimates ranging from 17 to 142 casualties.

Jung said on Thursday that he had told the public and parliament what he knew at the time regarding the events in Afghanistan. But a Thursday report in the tabloid Bild suggested that reports about civilian casualties had reached his ministry by the evening of Sept. 4, reports that he then forwarded to NATO headquarters. He claimed on Thursday that he did not read the report before sending it further and had not knowingly lied to the German public and parliament.

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IRIN asked three experts what they considered were the country’s top five humanitarian needs. The following comments are from Reto Stoker, head of delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross; Laurent Saillard, director of the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief; and Raz Mohammad Dalili, executive director of Sanayee Development Organization, one of the country’s oldest NGOs.

1)

Reto Stoker: “Human security – to be able to get basic services and to move from A to B. Both sides are trying to win hearts and minds, and you hear it said that 80 percent of Afghans are on the fence: the truth is that 80 percent of people are in the ditch, and are trying to resist both sides pulling and pushing. As a farmer you have to be either pro- international forces or pro-Taliban. You may be forced to feed the Taliban at night, while risking being asked by the international forces why you did that the next morning.”

Laurent Saillard: “Access is the biggest challenge – to the population, to information, to independent funding. We need better routing of financing so humanitarian agencies can be protected from being associated with the parties to the conflict. We need needs-based funding without a political agenda; principled assistance regardless of [which part of the country] the beneficiaries are living [in].”

Raz Mohammad Dalili: “The Afghan government doesn’t have a good strategy to bring changes to the lives of Afghans. There is corruption, slow delivery of development, and a perception that some government ministers are working for their own benefit.”

2)

RS: “We’re getting more and more malnourished children. They could be treated at the local health centre, or helped [at home] through a little education provided to the mothers. But they come in a very malnourished state, weeks too late. [Because of the insecurity] taxis will only carry them for a very high fare. So many wait and wait until it’s too late, or nearly too late. The number of people dying from the indirect humanitarian consequences [of the fighting] is much higher than those dying as a direct result of the conflict. Security is not just threatened by a roadside bomb or an air strike, it is a much more integrated concept.”

LS: “Dialogue – we need to talk to all parties to the conflict. Only ICRC and MSF [Médecins sans Frontières] have started this. Maybe we need to agree to a code for humanitarian access accepted by all parties to the conflict. An agreement won’t guarantee safety [of humanitarian agencies in the field], but at least it can provide a moral agreement at the political level.”

RMD: “The capacity of ministers: many come from a political, not a development background, they don’t know how to work to bring change. The international coalition has spent a lot of money; if it had been spent on the people, there would have been big changes in Afghanistan. One of the big reasons that the Taliban has followers is because of poverty; as a follower you receive money from the Taliban and you have the opportunity to loot.”

Read more here.

In recent months, a number of Pakistani nationals who returned to Pakistan after working in America have faced threats and even been subjected to physical torture at the hands of the Taliban, who claim that people returning from the US are informers.

Last year, a Bronx resident, Bakht Bilind Khan, was kidnapped by Taliban militants while vacationing in Swat. Khan was held in captivity for two weeks, during which time he was interrogated about his work and life in America. He was eventually released after paying a US$ 8,000 ransom.

Khan’s kidnapping is not an anomaly. The Taliban have instructed residents of the Frontier province to stay away from people coming from America, even if those returning are native to the area and continue to have family residing there.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani authorities are at a loss for how to instill a sense of security amongst Pashtun people who are facing the wrath of extremists. ‘The majority of the people of North-West Frontier Province believe in moderation and secularism,’ says Senator Haji Adeel of the Awami National Party. He adds that the Taliban are trying to create a sense of insecurity among the people by attacking the liberal and secular spirit of the Pashtun community.

Read more here.

The United Nations has announced plans to temporarily relocate hundreds of its foreign staff operating in Afghanistan, citing security concerns.

Kai Eide, the UN’s Special Representative in Afghanistan, explained the decision in Kabul on Thursday, a week after five UN personnel were killed in a Taliban attack in the capital.

But Eide said the relocation does not mean the UN is withdrawing its operations in the country.

“Let me emphasise in light of media reports this morning, we are not talking about pulling out, and we are not talking about evacuation,” he said.

“We are simply doing what we have to do following the tragic event of last week to look after our workers while ensuring our operation in Afghanistan can continue.”

Aleem Siddique, a UN spokesman, said the move will affect 600 of the world body’s roughly 1,100 international staff.

Read more here.

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NATO has significantly changed its military strategy in Southern Afghanistan since the alliance-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) deployed into the region in 2006. Dutch Major General Mart de Kruif told Radio Netherlands that rather than massive offensives against the Taliban, as was the case in the early days, ISAF now plans major operations that include strong elements of local governance and reconstruction.

Talking about the Taliban,  the Dutch general claimed that “now, the Taliban reacts to what we do, not the other way around”. He described the movement as being in a phase of uncertainty, and said that internal tensions had been noted in the movement’s leadership, the majority of which is based in Quetta, Pakistan.

However, he added that the Taliban movement, in a military sense, is not centrally controlled and led. “If the Quetta Shura of the Taliban were to disappear tomorrow, that would not mean the end of the Taliban”. But Major General De Kruif warned that violence may continue, as ISAF moves into Taliban-held regions and the insurgents increasingly use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and intimidation of the local population as military tools. Still, looking back, the general says ISAF has made a ‘major step forwards’ in the past twelve months.

Listen to the interview here.

Security forces claimed on Sunday to have made steady gains in their assaults on militants’ strongholds in South Waziristan and army officials said they were surprised by low level of resistance, reports Dawn.com.

‘The area has been heavily mined. There are a lot of improvised explosive devices and mines. But the level of resistance from the militants is not very high,’ one of them said.

A military spokesman said five security personnel were killed and 11 wounded during 24 hours of operation Rah-i-Nijat. He put the Taliban’s fatalities at 60.

He said that troops and planes had knocked out six 12.7mm anti-aircraft guns in different areas to eliminate militants’ capability to attack helicopters.

‘At one place, they abandoned their position and fled,’ Maj-Gen Athar Abbas said. A spokesman of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan acknowledged that the army had launched a multi-pronged attack.

Azam Tariq admitted that the military had occupied Kanda and Kalkali, but claimed that security personnel had been pushed back from their positions.

According to sources, 19 militants were killed in clashes and bombing. The Taliban spokesman claimed that militants’ supporters from religious organisations and madressahs in Punjab, Sindh and the NWFP were in touch with them and were reaching the battle zone through different routes.

He accepted the responsibility for recent attacks in Lahore and Peshawar. It is leant that Afghan Taliban commander Mullah Sangeen had brought 1,500 fighters to support the TTP flanks in South Waziristan.

Meanwhile, an anti-Baitullah militant group has offered support for security forces against the TTP.

More than 100,000 people have fled South Waziristan where the government has launched a major ground assault against the Taliban, officials said on Sunday.

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