Islamabad: In the wake of reports that a top Taliban commander Mulla Dadullah Akhund had been captured by the Afghan military, a man claiming to be him said he is still at large and moving around freely.
"I am still leading Taliban fighters in battle. I am not far from Kandahar city," the man told Pakistan daily 'The News' over the phone.
Dadullah, a close aide of Taliban chief Mullah Omar has the reputation of being a fearless man. A one-legged militant, he reportedly led major battles against rival Northern Alliance forces in Afghanistan during the 1990s.
The daily said it was not possible to confirm whether the caller was indeed the 40-year-old Taliban commander.
"Believe me! I am Dadullah. Why should I lie? It seems they have got hold of some poor villager with one leg and they believe it is me," the man told the daily.
In his message to the US troops and the Afghanistan government, he claimed that his fidayeen supporters would rather die than let him be captured.
"Tell the Americans and their Afghan puppets that I have 100 fidayeen with me armed with rocket launchers and other heavy arms. They would die and launch suicide attacks but would not let me taken alive. I too would like to become a martyr rather than being made prisoner," he said.
The BBC had earlier reported that Dadullah had been captured but Afghan authorities declined to confirm the news.
The report quoted high-ranking Afghan officials as saying that the top Taliban commander was detained in the southern province of Kandahar and is being held by coalition forces.
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