The new AfPak strategy in action – decapitation, reintegration and reconciliation (DRR)

It’s not quite the “we got him” moment, as when US soldiers unearthed the fugitive Iraqi dictator. But the capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a top militant commander who is said to be second in command to elusive Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mohhamad Omar, may be even more significant. By the time Saddam Hussein had been caught, the US was fighting a different enemy, though the Pentagon leadership had not realised yet. Baradar, who was in charge of the insurgency’s day-to-day operations on behalf of the so-called Quetta Shura, the Taliban’s leadership council, is very much today’s enemy – and his seizure should not be underestimated.

Doubts remain as to whether he was taken in Karachi, as the New York Times reported, or as part of the weekend’s fighting in Helmand Province. If he was seized inside Pakistan, his capture is all the more significant, as it suggests a new willingness on the part of the Pakistani authorities – and their double-dealing intelligence agencies – to go after the Taliban.