(Thumbnail Image:  India Talkies)

It's being called the most significant capture since the start of the war on terror.

U.S. and Pakistani intelligence agents have captured the Taliban’s top military commander, Abdul Ghani Baradar.

In their first joint operation, U.S. and Pakistani intelligence services captured Baradar several days ago in the Pakistan city of Karachi.  

Baradar is the Taliban’s second in command, behind only Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban’s founder and a close associate of Osama bin Laden.

CNN Analyst Peter Bergen tells Anderson Cooper exactly how important Baradar’s capture is.

Anderson: "This is a big deal."

Bergen: "Huge deal. I mean arguably more important than Mullah Omar from a military point of view, because Mullah Omar really is more of a religious figure than an operational commander of the Taliban. This guy also is the No. 2 political figure in the Taliban. The fact that he was discovered in Karachi is very significant. Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan, it's a long way from where the war is being fought, indicates that Pakistani intelligence services and CIA are cooperating very closely on a very high value target."

One reporter for The Guardian explains Baradar’s vital role in the Taliban’s operations.

"It is Baradar who has managed the day-to-day business of the insurgency, appointing key military commanders and organizing the parallel administration shadow that the Taliban has been able to set up across much of the south and south-east of Afghanistan."

But an article in the Christian Science Monitor doubt Baradar’s capture will inflict lasting damage on the Taliban.

"Analysts expressed some doubts that this will have a major impact on the Afghan battlefields. Such skepticism arises from the parade of Al Qaeda No. 2's and TTP chiefs who have been killed or captured over the years in Pakistan -- only to see them quickly replaced and the organizations spring back."  

France 24 suggests Baradar’s capture could even negatively affect the Afghan government’s recent attempts to get the Taliban to join peace talks.

"The other factor which is quite interesting about this particular case is that Mullah Baradar is one of those on the Taliban side who is believed to support the idea of negotiations with the coalition forces and the Afghan government in Afghanistan, which is a key coalition aim.  So what one of the side consequences ironically may be, a step back in the possibility of talks between the Afghan authorities and the Taliban."

Is Baradar’s capture a significant blow to the Taliban?

Writer: Maurice Scarborbough