US, Pakistani intelligence forces capture senior Taliban figure

U.S. and Pakistani intelligence forces, working together, have captured a leading Taliban figure. The apprehension of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar may cause a significant disruption to Taliban operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and raises questions of whether ties are warming between Pakistan’s intelligence service, the ISI, and the CIA. Baradar is reportedly being interrogated by both American and Pakistani operatives. Georgetown Prof. Christine Fair, who focuses on Pakistan and Afghanistan, joins us for analysis.

Meanwhile, U.S., British and Afghan forces have entered their fourth day of a pitched battle for control of Marjah, a Taliban garrison in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. While the offensive has largely succeeded in capturing key territory, troops on the ground say that homemade bombs and snipers now pose the greatest threat to NATO allies. Shoaib Hassan, Islamabad correspondent for the BBC, offers us his analysis on how the coalition’s strategy has fared in the campaign thus far.