Taliban Say They Have Taken Prisoner Opposition Leader

Taliban officials have announced that one of the opposition leaders, well-known field commander Abdul Haq, was taken prisoner Friday morning. The Taliban's statement, quoted by Afghanistan's Bakhtar news agency, said that on October 24 Abdul Haq with a group of his supporters crossed into Afghanistan from Pakistan and went to the Nangarhar province and then to Loghar where he enjoys the local population's support. The statement said that Taliban forces had expected Haq to come and set an ambush for him. Later they blocked the area. The Taliban said American helicopters attacked their positions to help Haq break through the encirclement, but they did not succeed. Abdul Haq was a member of the Afghan government before 1994. After the Taliban came to power, he left Afghanistan for Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, where he launched a business. A month ago, he came to Pakistan where he raised a combat group and went to fight the Taliban. Abdul Haq does not belong to the organised opposition to the Taliban movement.