The White House on Wednesday hailed the capture of the Taliban military commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar as a "big success" for joint US-Pakistani efforts to combat extremists.
"It is a big success for our mutual efforts in the region," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
Despite breaking the White House silence on the arrest, Gibbs would not give details on what kind of intelligence Baradar was providing to US and Pakistani interrogators.
But he said the capture of the number two Taliban figure, confirmed by Pakistani authorities earlier on Wednesday, was "significant."
In Kabul earlier a top US envoy on hailed the capture of the Taliban military commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, whose arrest could deal a heavy blow to the militia's eight-year war in Afghanistan.
The arrest, confirmed by Pakistan, is the most important Taliban capture since the 2001 US-led invasion brought down the regime for sheltering Al-Qaeda after the September 11 attacks.
Visiting US envoy Richard Holbrooke said in Kabul that Baradar "got caught" and welcomed the arrest as a "significant development," but gave no details.
The involvement of Pakistan -- suspected by the West of supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan -- could also herald a new era in US efforts to persuade Islamabad to move aggressively against Islamist networks in both countries.
