Islamabad: The reports that Taliban's top commander has been arrested in a joint raids by the US and Pakistani intelligence forces was a "propaganda", said Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
"We are verifying all those we have arrested. If there is any big target, I will show the nation," Malik told reporters outside Parliament in Islamabad on Tuesday.
The comments came a day after the New York Times reported on Monday that Afghanistan's top Taliban military leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was captured in Karachi during a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American spy forces.
"If the New York Times gives information, it is not a divine truth, it can be wrong. We have joint intelligence sharing and no joint investigation, nor joint raids," Malik said.
"We are a sovereign state and hence will not allow anybody to come and do any operation. And we will not allow that. So this (report) is propaganda," The DawnNews quoted Malik as saying.
Abdul Baradar is an Afghan and is described by American officials as the most significant Taliban leader to be detained since the American-led war in Afghanistan started more than eight years ago.
He is considered the second most influential leader after Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban's founder, and a close associate of Osama bin Laden before the September 11 attacks.
Mullah Baradar has been in Pakistani custody for several days, with American and Pakistani intelligence officials both taking part in interrogations, the Times said citing unnamed officials.
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