ISLAMABAD (voa) – Pakistani police say they have arrested two high ranking officials of Afghanistan’s ousted Taleban regime near the border.
A police source says former Taleban chief justice Noor Mohammad Saqib, and the Taleban’s deputy foreign minister, Addul Rehman Zahid, were arrested in an early Wednesday search of two villages just inside Pakistan, near the city of Quetta.
The Taleban chief justice is the highest ranking member of the ousted regime in police custody in either Pakistan or Afghanistan. He is believed to have fled Afghanistan days after the U.S.-led coalition launched strikes in early October.
Most of the Taleban’s top officials, including leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, remain at large.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said Wednesday it is investigating a U.S. raid north of Kandahar in which at least 15 people were killed. Defense officials insist last week’s raid hit a legitimate military target. But local villagers said that the raid actually hit a compound used by supporters of Afghanistan’s interim administration.
In Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province, fighting erupted Wednesday between rival ethnic Pashtun factions. Local officials say civilians are fleeing the town of Gardez where the factions are fighting for control
