Mullah Omar and Bin Laden on the run as Afghan and American forces close on them
Sonia Chopra, Special Correspondent
December 15, 2004

More than 18,000 US troops and innumerable Afghan forces are in the process of searching every inch of Afhganistan and Afghan-Pak border. Many in that region are reporting that Bin Laden and Mullah Omar are on the run towards the Chinese Afghan border area.

Afghan security forces have captured Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's personal security chief as he traveled in a van to the southern city of Kandahar, provincial officials told Reuters on Tuesday. The capture of Toor Mullah Naqibullah Khan, who headed Mullah Omar's household security, could help U.S. and Afghan forces track down his boss, one of the most wanted fugitives in the U.S.-led war on terror. Osama bin Laden, who ran his al Qaeda network in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban, is also believed to be at large in the region. "We have arrested top Taliban figures Toor Mullah Naqibullah Khan and Mullah Qayoom Angar on the way between Arghandab and Kandahar. They were carrying a satellite telephone and some important documents," said a senior Kandahar security official, who requested anonymity. The official said eight more Taliban fighters were arrested in Kandahar after the two men were caught, unarmed, on Monday evening. A cache of remote control bombs, time bombs and several other explosive devices and radios was also seized.