KABUL: An Afghan currency dealer with offices in Iran and Pakistan who is accused of funneling millions of dollars to the Taliban has been detained by Nato and Afghan forces, a military spokesman said yesterday.
The move comes as part of a campaign to crack down on funding for the Islamists' war effort before foreign combat troops pull out in 2014 and hand responsibility to Afghan security forces.
Mohammed Qasim, who was placed on a sanctions list by the United Nations and the United States last week, was arrested recently in southern Afghanistan, a spokesman for Nato International Security Assistance Force said.
The US Treasury said Qasim used his Rahat Trading Company for transactions involving millions of dollars to support the Taliban leader in volatile Helmand province, who has been designated a narcotics “kingpin”.
According to the US, the company has branches in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan "which have been used by the Taliban to facilitate their illicit financial activities".
The Taliban “shadow governor” for Helmand, Mullah Naim Barich, was accused of producing and exporting opium and heroin from the province.
Afghanistan produces about 90 percent of the world's opium, and poppy farmers are taxed by Taliban militants who use the cash to help fund their insurgency.
AFP
