The Taliban says its former defense minister died two years ago in a Pakistani jail.

A Taliban spokesman said Monday relatives have recently been informed that Obidullah Akhund died of heart disease in a Karachi prison in March 2010. Akhund was arrested in 2007.

The insurgent group says it wants Pakistan to provide details about Akhund's arrest, incarceration and death.

The Taliban ruled much of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when U.S.-led forces ousted the militants from power in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Many Taliban leaders are reported to have fled to Pakistan after their ruling government collapsed.