Minister for Defense Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar. – File Photo by APP

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar on Wednesday said government of Pakistan and armed forces played a vital role in capturing former al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden through a mobile phone’s chip/SIM, DawnNews reported.

Speaking during an exclusive interview to the British Broadcasting Channel’s (BBC) Urdu Service, the defence minister claimed that it was Pakistan’s armed forces which had weakened the al Qaeda’s terrorist network.

He revealed that the former al Qaeda chief was hunted down through a mobile phone’s SIM/chip which was found ‘fortuitously.’

Mukhtar also revealed that Pakistan was bound by a contract with the United States to hand over all Arabic and English data found amid search for the al Qaeda chief. Similarly the US was to provide all Urdu data to Pakistan for intelligence sharing purposes.

The defence minister also said that the armed forces were currently looking into material recovered from the compound in Abbottabad, where bin Laden was captured and eventually killed by the US forces.

Moreover, the minister said that Dr Shakeel should inform the Pakistan government rather than the US.