Counterterrorism Advisor Slams Congress.

Exclusive: Another Taliban Leader Captured in Pakistan

Newsweek Feb 17, 2010 12:35 PM
By Sami Yousafzai and Mark Hosenball
Another leader of the Afghan Taliban has been captured by authorities in Pakistan working in partnership with U.S. intelligence officials. Taliban sources in the region and a counterterrorism official in Washington have identified the detained insurgent leader as Mullah Abdul Salam, described as the Taliban movement's "shadow governor" of Afghanistan's Kunduz province.
Taliban sources told NEWSWEEK's Sami Yousafzai that Salam was grabbed by Pakistani security forces in the city of Faisalabad about a week ago—close to the same time that Pakistani forces, again with American support, captured the Afghan Taliban's No.2 leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in Karachi. The Taliban sources said that Mullah Salam was arrested with three other militants.

Taliban Promotion Scorecard: Who Will Replace Mullah Baradar?

Newsweek Feb 16, 2010 05:34 PM
By Mark Hosenball and Michael Isikoff
The capture last week of Mullah Baradar Akhund, the Taliban's No. 2 leader, is expected to spark a leadership reshuffle within the organization's Afghan branch. One jihadist who could step up to take Baradar's place: Mullah Abdul Qayam Zakir, a ruthless former Guantánamo detainee released back to Afghanistan by the Bush administration.
According to two U.S. counterterrorism officials, who asked for anonymity when speaking about sensitive information, the early assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies is that Baradar is likely to be succeeded not by Zakir but by Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansur. An Afghan aviation minister when the Taliban controlled the country prior to 2001, Mansur was listed in official U.S. intelligence files last year as a principal deputy to Mullah Baradar.