Taliban commander turns self in… for reward on ‘Wanted’ poster

Sometimes, capturing a Taliban commander requires vast resources and complex operations. Last week in eastern Afghanistan, it hinged on an insurgent’s “improbable stupidity,” as one U.S. official put it.

Mohammad Ashan, a mid-level Taliban commander in Paktika province, strolled toward a police checkpoint in the district of Sar Howza with a wanted poster bearing his own face. He demanded the finder’s fee referenced on the poster: $100.

A biometric scan confirmed that the man in Afghan custody was the insurgent they had been looking for.

“Clearly,” one U.S. official said, “the man is an imbecile.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/taliban-commander-turns-self-in-for-reward-on-wanted-poster/2012/04/17/gIQAbVjqNT_blog.html