The Afghan government yesterday welcomed the detention of the former Taliban government's foreign minister, saying it would serve as a message for other Taliban leaders that they cannot escape justice.
Mullah Abdul Wakil Mutta-wakil turned himself in to authorities Friday and is being held at a US base in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. He is the highest-ranking Taliban official known to have been captured so far and was considered a relative moderate within the hardline Islamic militia.
"It is very important that the leadership of the Taliban is in safe hands and is not allowed to undermine the stability of the interim government of Afghanistan," Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said.
"These types of actions should continue. It will send a message to the other Taliban leaders that they cannot escape justice."
Major A.C. Roper, a US Army spokesman at the Kandahar base, said he could not comment on the detention.
Abdullah said US and Afghan forces continue to hunt for other members of the former Taliban government and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network and that more could be captured at "any time."
In Mazar-i-Sharif, northern Afghanistan's main city, the head of the new government-backed security force yesterday warned all militia factions to consolidate their fighters in barracks outside the city or risk being disarmed by the force's patrols.
Security-force officials say all factions complied with a Friday deadline to ban their fighters from Mazar-i-Sharif's streets. But some militiamen still remained in compounds inside the city.
RSS