Reports: Another Afghan Taliban leader caught in Pakistan in latest blow to insurgents

Reports: Another Taliban leader caught in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD — A top Afghan Taliban leader has been captured in Pakistan in what would be the fourth detention in recent weeks of senior members of the insurgent group, U.S. media reported Tuesday.

Mullah Abdul Kabir, a member of the militia’s ruling council, was picked up several days ago in Nowshera district in Pakistan’s northwest, according to reports in The New York Times and Washington Post that cited unnamed Pakistani security officials.

Pakistani officials declined to confirm the reports to The Associated Press.

If confirmed, the arrest would be a further sign that Pakistan is turning away from its old strategy of allowing Afghan Taliban leaders safe haven in the country — something that could have far-reaching implications for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.

Last week, Pakistani and American officials said the No. 2 Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, had been caught some 10 days earlier in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.

Two other Taliban leaders — Mullah Abdul Salam of Kunduz province and Mullah Mohammad in Baghlan province — were arrested separately in Pakistan about 10 to 12 days ago, according to the Kunduz governor, Mohammad Omar.

The reports gave few details of Kabir’s arrest, except that it happened recently.