Taliban denies top military commander captured

The Taliban denied on Tuesday a report its top military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani, had been captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret raid by Pakistani and US intelligence forces. A Taliban spokesman said Ghani, known to many Taliban as Mullah Baradar, was still in Afghanistan actively organizing the group's military and political activities.

"He has not been captured. They want to spread this rumor just to divert the attention of people from their defeats in Marjah and confuse the public," Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters, referring to a US-led NATO offensive in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. (Reuters)