Some Taliban Leaders Captured: US official

Northern Alliance opposition forces on Thursday apparently captured some senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, a senior US official said.

"We have heard that the Northern Alliance may have come into possession of some Taliban leadership earlier today," the official said, adding that the group did not include senior Taliban leader Mullah Omar or Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden, head of the anti-Western al Qaeda network.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said the Northern Alliance had informed Washington of the capture.

The official said the United States would be extremely interested in any intelligence information obtained from the Taliban leaders on the whereabouts of Mullah Omar and bin Laden, who is accused by the United States of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks on America that killed more than 4,500 people.

"There was some communication" from the Northern Alliance on the capture, said the official in Washington, who did not know where or how the Northern Alliance had taken the leaders.

(China Daily November 16, 2001)