Pakistan ? Pakistan has arrested a former spokesman for Taliban leader Mullah Omar who was released by Afghanistan in 2007 in exchange for a kidnapped Italian journalist, security officials said Saturday.

Authorities detained Ustad Mohammed Yasir in the northwest city of Peshawar near the Afghan border, said an intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

A Peshawar police official confirmed the arrest, but neither specified when it occurred.

Many Taliban and al-Qaida militants fled into Pakistan after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan to oust the Taliban in 2001. The U.S. has pushed Pakistan to crack down on the militants, who have regrouped in the country’s lawless tribal areas and have been launching attacks against Western forces across the border in Afghanistan.