Karachi, Feb 18 (IANS) Sleuths of Pakistan's intelligence agencies have arrested three men who are said to have close links with Al-Qaeda and the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The three men, who were arrested from Karachi's Gulshan-i-Iqbal area on Thursday, have been shifted to Islamabad and handed over to Pakistani and American security agencies for interrogation, Online news agency reported, quoting security sources.

This is the second major success for Pakistani and American security agencies this week after the capture of Abdul Ghani Baradar, who heads the Afghan Taliban's military wing and is second in command only to the movement's founder Mullah Muhammad Omar.

Thursday's arrests were made on the basis of information provided by an American security agency, the sources said, adding that the operation leading to the arrests lasted for more than six hours.

The three men were named as Akhunzada Popalzai, Ameer Mawia and Hamza.

Mawia, the sources said, was a known associate of Osama Bin Laden and was an operational commander of the TTP and Al-Qaeda.

He was also the commander of foreign combatants in Pakistan and prior to 9/11, travelled with Osama Bin Laden to Sudan, the sources said.

Mawia and the other two men were in Karachi to purchase mechanical parts. Among the items they had purchased were washing machine timers and components used in time bombs, the sources said.

There had been considerable controversy over Baradar's arrest, with Interior Minister Rehman Malik terming it 'propaganda' but the Pakistani Army confirming Wednesday that he had been captured.

Also on Wednesday, the US described Baradar's arrest as a 'significant win' in the efforts to rid the region of extremists.

'Obviously the capture of Mullah Baradar is a significant win,' White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, adding: 'It's a big success for our mutual efforts in the region.'