Pakistan 'captures' militant who wrote to Malala Yousafzai justifying her attack

Adnan Rasheed is best known for open letter justifying the Taliban’s assassination attempt on 15-year-old education campaigner

Pakistani security forces are reported to have captured a senior Taliban commander best known for writing to Malala Yousafzai to explain why gunmen tried to shoot her dead.

Adnan Rasheed currently heads a cell dedicated to breaking militant prisoners out of jail and had led a string of high-profile breakouts – making him a valued target.

Military officials refused to confirm his capture but sources have told local reporters that he was detained on Friday at his home in South Waziristan.

It would make him the most important figure killed or captured since Pakistan launched a military offensive in neighbouring North Waziristan to clear the region of terrorist safe havens.

Last year, he was mocked for writing an open letter to Malala justifying the Pakistan Taliban’s decision to target her – part of a PR exercise aimed at stemming public disgust at the attempted assassination of a 15-year-old girl.

He claimed he had wanted to warn her against criticising the Taliban because of his “brotherly” feelings towards someone from his own Yousafzai tribe.

“When you were attacked it was shocking for me. I wished it would never happened and I had advised you before,” he wrote.

He also said she had not been singled out for her education campaign but for what militants saw as an effort to smear them.

“Taliban believe that you were intentionally writing against them and running a smearing campaign to malign their efforts to establish Islamic system in Swat and your writings were provocative,” he added in a rambling essay that referenced Bertrand Russell, the philosopher.

“You have said in your speech yesterday that pen is mightier than sword, so they attacked you for your sword not for your books or school.”

Malala has become one of the best-known education campaigners in the world since she was shot in the head two years ago. This week she was in Nigeria, appealing for the release of girls kidnapped by Boko Haram.

Her nemesis is one of Pakistan’s most feared terrorists. He was in the Pakistan Air Force before being imprisoned for his part in a plot to kill President Pervez Musharraf in 2003.

He escaped in a jail break in 2012.

Meanwhile, an American drone strike killed least 13 people on Wednesday in a suspected militant compound in North Waziristan as the country’s military continues its offensive against insurgent hideouts.

The military says it has killed more than 450 militants so far. More than 800,000 people have fled the area.