Initial report of Hekmatyar's capture was a case of mistaken identity

On 9-11, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported “the commander of the Hizb-i-Islami militia in Hafezan in the eastern province of Nangarhar, Gulbuddin Hikmatyar, was arrested after credible intelligence led Afghan and coalition forces to his compound.” An independent intelligence source confirmed the initial report, which led to my post on this matter, however a subsequent identification by fingerprinting indicates the person in question is not Hekmatyar. The captured suspect is a high level commander in Hezb-i-Islami, and is said to be a dead ringer for Hekmatyar.

The misidentification of terrorist commanders is a common occurrence. Most recently, Pakistan commander Matiur Rehman and Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah were reported captured, however it was later discovered they were indeed not in custody. It is believed the Pakistani ISI misled ABC News, while Dadullah's body double was actually Mullah Ibrahim, a Taliban commander in the Kandahar region.