Pakistan arrests senior Afghan Taliban leader from Peshawar

Pakistan: Pakistan has arrested a senior Afghan Taliban leader who was living in Peshawar for last few years, a BBC report said on Tuesday.

Hafez Mohibullah, religious affairs minister when the Taliban ran Afghanistan before 2001, was held in Peshawar, the sources told the BBC.

Pakistan’s arrest of Hafez Mohibullah is seen as an an attempt to put pressure on the militants amid talks with the US.

The reported detention of Hafez Mohibullah also comes ahead of a visit to Pakistan by US special representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, who has held a series of meetings with the Taliban’s political office in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Later BBC journalist Secunder Kermani tweeted that Mohibullah has been released by Pakistani authorities.

Hafez Mohibullah now released by Pakistani authorities according to sources… https://t.co/w0QrZgvvm0

— Secunder Kermani (@SecKermani) January 15, 2019