NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) announced it was resuming use of a weapons systems employed in a strike that hit a family home, killing 12 people, at the start of the allied offensive in Marjah, Afghanistan. A review determined that the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, functioned properly, the statement said. Air Force Lt. Col. Todd Vician, an ISAF spokesman, said the strike on the home was still under investigation. Some sources have said that Taliban fighters were inside along with civilians at the time of the attack.

INSURGENT'S CAPTURE CONFIRMED

Pakistan confirmed for the first time that it has the Afghan Taliban's No. 2 leader in custody, and officials said he was providing useful intelligence that was being shared with the United States. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's military commander, was arrested earlier this month in a joint operation by CIA and Pakistani security forces in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, U.S. and Pakistani officials have said. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs also confirmed the capture and praised Pakistan, saying the arrest "is a big success for our mutual efforts in the region." Neither the Pakistanis nor the Americans have divulged exactly when Baradar was arrested or where he is being held.

TALKS WITH TALIBAN IN MALDIVES

Taliban and Afghan lawmakers held three days of talks last month in the Maldives, said Mohamed Zuhair, a spokesman for the president of the Indian Ocean nation. Zuhair said about a dozen people represented each side. The Maldives government was not directly involved, he said.

NEWS SERVICES