Factbox: "Captured" commander close to reclusive Taliban chief

KABUL Feb 16 (Reuters) - The top military commander of the Taliban, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, has been captured in Pakistan, two U.S. officials said, but the Taliban said he was still at work in Afghanistan.

Here are some facts on the Taliban commander:

* He is known to many Taliban by the nickname given to him by the Taliban's reclusive chief Mullah Mohammad Omar -- Mullah Baradar (brother), reflecting their close ties.

* A former Taliban official said Mullah Baradar did not enjoy good relations with U.S.-backed Pakistan, a powerful regional player with strategic ties to some Afghan Taliban militants fighting Western forces in Afghanistan.

* Since the Taliban's removal from power in 2001, apart from his capacity as a military commander, Mullah Baradar, 42, has also served as a deputy to Mullah Omar on political affairs, operating in Quetta, Pakistan, where the Taliban leadership council is said to be based.

In recent years, Omar conveyed all his military and political messages to field commanders in Afghanistan through Mullah Baradar, Taliban officials say.

* Like Mullah Omar, he became battle-hardened fighting Soviet occupation troops in the 1980s, and like many Taliban members, his education was deeply rooted in Islam.

* When the Taliban were in power, Mullah Baradar served in various top military positions and became the overall commander of the battle for the northern region during the invasion of the U.S. forces in late 2001.

He was reportedly arrested by a pro-U.S. commander in the north when the Taliban were swept out of the region, but managed mysteriously to escape.

* In an interview with Newsweek last year, he spoke passionately about his desire to drive foreign troops from Afghanistan. "In every nook and corner of the country, a spirit for jihad is raging," he said.

* In something very rare in the austere Taliban leadership culture, Mullah Omar and Mullah Baradar were known to crack jokes in front of comrades. They once challenged each other to a traditional Afghan contact sport which involved hopping on one leg, a former Taliban official said. Mullah Omar won that after securing a higher bit of ground to lunge from.

(Editing by Michael Georgy)