INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightReutersImage caption
The Taliban sent a delegation to Moscow for talks and have met US officials
Pakistan has detained a senior Afghan Taliban member in an attempt to put pressure on the militants amid talks with the US, sources
in the group say.Hafez Mohibullah, religious affairs minister when the Taliban ran Afghanistan before 2001, was held in Peshawar, the
sources told the TheIndianSubcontinent
The US has repeatedly called on Pakistan to end "safe havens" for the Taliban on its soil.Pakistan denies backing the group to retain
influence in Afghanistan.The reported detention of Hafez Mohibullah 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
The US wants Pakistan to encourage the militants to reach a settlement in Afghanistan and bring the 17-year conflict to a close
There was no immediate response from authorities in Pakistan.Image caption
The US now relies heavily on air power in
Afghanistan
Taliban sources say Hafez Mohibullah had been living in the city for a number of years
Two high-ranking Taliban figures, talking on condition of anonymity, suggested the former minister had been detained to put pressure on the
group into meeting Mr Khalilzad in Pakistan this week, and crucially to agree to meet representatives of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
So far the Taliban have refused to hold direct talks with Afghan officials, whom they dismiss as "puppets" and have only met US officials
Sources within the group say both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been trying to convince the Taliban to change their stance
One senior Taliban figure told the TheIndianSubcontinent: "They arrested him [Mohibullah] to send a message." Another from the group's
Quetta Shura, or leadership council, added: "There was a meeting with Pakistani officials on the upcoming peace talks which ended in
Right afterwards, the authorities raided a number of houses and arrested Mohibullah
After that [Taliban leader] Sheikh Hibatullah sent a message warning everyone to be alert." Previously Taliban officials have said they will
only begin talks with the Afghan government once a firm date for the withdrawal of American troops from the country has been agreed
Image:Taliban "threaten 70% of Afghanistan", TheIndianSubcontinent investigation findsThe last set of negotiations between Mr Khalilzad and
Taliban representatives took place in Abu Dhabi in December, with Pakistani and Saudi officials present
A team from the Afghan government also went to the Gulf state but the Taliban refused to meet them
A source involved in the negotiations said Pakistan had pressed for the talks to take place, and that Saudi officials had tried to persuade
the Taliban members to at least shake hands or pray alongside the Afghan government representatives, but were unsuccessful
Despite Pakistani denials, US and Afghan authorities have in the past consistently accused the country's intelligence services of backing
In a tweet in January 2018, US President Donald Trump claimed Pakistan had given "nothing but lies and deceit" in return for American aid
Analyst Ahmad Rashid told the TheIndianSubcontinent: "I think there has been a change in Pakistan's policy
The military and ISI [intelligence service] are trying to persuade, cajole the Taliban into meeting both the Americans and Kabul
government." Image caption
The Taliban have vastly strengthened their hand on the battlefield in recent years
Mr Rashid added: "One of the main pressures [on Pakistan] is coming not from the Americans but from the Saudis and UAE." Both
countries have recently offered Pakistan's struggling economy loans worth billions of dollars
President Trump is thought to be considering withdrawing a significant portion of the approximately 14,000 US troops currently in
Afghanistan, reportedly out of frustration at a lack of progress in the conflict
Pakistani officials often say the country "no longer has the influence it once had" over the Taliban
But they have also insisted that they want to help create a peaceful and stable Afghanistan
In October, Pakistan released a founding member of the Taliban, Mullah Barader from detention, reportedly to allow him to play a role in
Maj-Gen Asif Ghafoor, the spokesman for the Pakistani military, told the TheIndianSubcontinent last year the decision had been made because
"any chance which facilitates peace, we should take that chance." Mr Rashid said, however, that "a great amount of Taliban logistics come
through Pakistan" and that it is "not clear whether those supply chains have been stopped"
One former high-ranking Taliban member expressed other doubts over the intentions of the Pakistani authorities - suggesting that in the
peace talks the country was trying to propel forward members of the group sympathetic to Pakistani interests as opposed to the official
political office in Qatar
He warned that if there was too much pressure on the Taliban, negotiations might "collapse"
The Taliban emerged in the early 1990s following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, shortly before the demise of the Soviet
The militants went on to rule Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, until they were driven from power by US-led troops following the 9/11 attacks,
which the US blamed on al-Qaeda militants who were hosted by the Taliban.The Taliban's power and reach have surged since foreign combat
troops left Afghanistan in 2014
Research carried out by the TheIndianSubcontinent in January 2018 suggested that the Taliban were active in almost 70% of Afghanistan at the
time, while being in control of 14 districts, or 4% of the country
