Karzai To Push Pakistan On Taliban Commander

Afghan President Hamid Karzai

Afghan President Hamid Karzai will press Pakistan to reveal the location of a former Taliban military commander during upcoming trilateral talks in Britain.

Karzai's spokesman Aimal Faizi said late on October 26 that Kabul will "look for explanations" from Islamabad for the "exact whereabouts" of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

Faizi said that the key former Taliban figure is still under the "strict supervision" of Pakistani authorities.

Karzai will meet Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his British counterpart David Cameron on October 29.

In what was seen as an effort to boost Afghan peace, Mullah Baradar was released from Pakistani custody in late September.

But he is reportedly still under house arrest inside Pakistan.

On October 9, Pakistan rejected an Afghan Taliban statement that Islamabad has not fulfilled a promise to free their former second-in-command.


Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters