Washington: The US state department on Friday claimed American troops have captured a senior Pakistani Taliban leader Latif Mehsud in a military operation.
“I can confirm that US forces did capture… terrorist leader Latif Mehsud in a military operation,” State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf said.
“Mehsud is a senior commander in TTP and served as a trusted confidante of the group's leader Hakimullah Mehsud,” Harf said.
No more details were given as to when and where Latif Mehsud was captured.
“Mehsud is a senior commander in TTP and served as a trusted confidante of the group's leader Hakimullah Mehsud,” Harf said.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's spokesperson Aimal Faizi condemned the capture of Latif Mehsud alleging that Latif had come for negotiations with agents of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security, when he was captured. He said, the US forces forcibly removed him and took him to Bagram air base.
Meshud's capture took place within hours of US Secretary of State John Kerry landing in Kabul and meeting President Karzai on Monday.
