Pakistani officials say that a senior Afghan Taliban commander has been captured in the Pakistani city of Karachi.
The claim follows officials saying that at least four other Afghan Taliban leaders have been arrested in Pakistan in recent weeks, including the number two leader of the movement, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
Agha Jan Mohtasim, a former finance minister for the Taliban before the US-led invasion in 2001, was detained in the southern city of Karachi, two intelligence officials said on Thursday.
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UN envoy calls for talks
But the good news in the fight to defeat the Taliban has been muted by comments from the outgoing UN special envoy in Afghanistan, who said more 'could have been done' in the country, and called for a political process to end the war. "It's time to talk", Eide said.
Eide made the remarks at his final news conference before stepping down after his two years in the post saw violence escalate and the UN role in last year's fraud-tainted elections mired in controversy.
The Norwegian expressed the hope 2010 would be a decisive year, warning otherwise that "those trends can become unmanageable" and dolling out criticism of Afghans and the international community.
"We all have to admit that we should have and could have all achieved more: that goes for the Afghan government; it goes for the international civilian community, including the UN; and the
international military forces," he said.
Afghans must take responsibility: UN envoy
The international community has in the past operated "in a way that Afghans consider disrespectful and sometimes humiliating," he said.
"Afghanistan is sometimes seen as and treated as a 'no-man's-land' and not as a sovereign state and that has to come to an end, because it has fuelled suspicion of unacceptable foreign interference, a sense of humiliation and a feeling that Afghans do not have control of their future," said Kai.
In his speech, Eide criticised Afghans for pushing "responsibility for difficult decisions on the international community" and avoiding "the main political challenges that face this society".
"Afghan authorities have to fully assume responsibility for cleaning up their own house and for shaping their own future," he said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called on the Taliban to hold peace talks with his government with a view to ending the conflict.
Reports had surfaced earlier that Eide met Taliban figures after an international conference on Afghanistan in London in January.
"I think it is high time that we get into this kind of a political process," said Eide when asked whether possible peace talks could succeed.
"We talked about it for a long time and to my mind it is now time to talk. I believe the reconciliation and peace process - whatever shape it takes - should get under way as soon as possible."
Following the latest arrest of an Afghan Taliban leader across the border in Pakistan, US officials and analysts were calling it a major blow to the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Tellingly in light of Eide's remarks, many analysts still caution that the group has rebounded from the death or detention of previous leaders.
