fatman17
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Friday, March 09, 2012
Afghan Air Force probed in drug running
* Allegations likely to raise doubts over ability of Afghan forces to secure country before foreign troops withdraw.
KABUL: US authorities are looking into allegations that some Afghan Air Force (AAF) officials have been using aircraft to transport narcotics and illegal weapons across the country, a US official said on Thursday.
At this point allegations are being examined, said Lt Col Tim Stauffer, spokesman for the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, which is setting up and financing Afghan security forces, including the Air Force. Authorities are trying to determine whether the allegations warrant a full investigation.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the allegations, said the US military is also looking into whether the alleged transporting of illegal drugs and weapons is connected to an April incident in which an AAF colonel killed eight US Air Force officers at Kabul Airport. A US Air Force report about the deaths quoted American officials as saying that the killer was likely involved in moving illegal cargo, The Wall Street Journal reported. Most of the victims had been taking part in an inquiry into the misuse of AAF aircraft, the newspaper said.
The April shooting, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, was the deadliest attack by Afghan troops on coalition personnel in the 10 years of war. The majority of the victims were involved in an early inquiry into the misuse of AAF aircraft. Col. Gul, the Afghan officer who killed them, coordinated AAFs cargo movement.
The allegations of drug running come from credible Afghan officers inside and outside the AAF and coalition personnel working within the AAF, it added. An Afghan defence ministry official would not comment on the issue. But he did say that Afghanistan had come under pressure from the West to remove a senior AAF official over corruption allegations. They could not provide credible evidence, he told.
Western officials say preliminary findings of the investigation suggest certain senior officials in the AAF and other parts of the Afghan government may have been involved in the alleged drugs and weapons transporting, or have turned a blind eye to the activity.
Major General Abdul Wahab Wardak, the AAF commander, told the drug-running allegations were baseless and they must be proven. We never do such things, he added. The allegations are likely to raise further doubts over the ability of Afghan forces to secure the country before foreign combat troops withdraw at the end of 2014. The AAF was set up mostly with US funds.
Afghanistan accounts for some 90% of the worlds illicit opium production, according to the United Nations. Before the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan, opium revenue enabled commanders of the Northern Alliancethe anti-Taliban fighters who would later aid the US in toppling the regimeto finance their war effort.
Many of these commanders now occupy senior positions in the Afghan security forces or government. American investigators say they believe some of these former commanders are now selling drugs again to buy weapons. Their aim: to rearm loyal militias in northern Afghanistan in case civil war erupts after most foreign forces withdraw from the country in 2014. reuters
Afghan Air Force probed in drug running
* Allegations likely to raise doubts over ability of Afghan forces to secure country before foreign troops withdraw.
KABUL: US authorities are looking into allegations that some Afghan Air Force (AAF) officials have been using aircraft to transport narcotics and illegal weapons across the country, a US official said on Thursday.
At this point allegations are being examined, said Lt Col Tim Stauffer, spokesman for the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, which is setting up and financing Afghan security forces, including the Air Force. Authorities are trying to determine whether the allegations warrant a full investigation.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the allegations, said the US military is also looking into whether the alleged transporting of illegal drugs and weapons is connected to an April incident in which an AAF colonel killed eight US Air Force officers at Kabul Airport. A US Air Force report about the deaths quoted American officials as saying that the killer was likely involved in moving illegal cargo, The Wall Street Journal reported. Most of the victims had been taking part in an inquiry into the misuse of AAF aircraft, the newspaper said.
The April shooting, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, was the deadliest attack by Afghan troops on coalition personnel in the 10 years of war. The majority of the victims were involved in an early inquiry into the misuse of AAF aircraft. Col. Gul, the Afghan officer who killed them, coordinated AAFs cargo movement.
The allegations of drug running come from credible Afghan officers inside and outside the AAF and coalition personnel working within the AAF, it added. An Afghan defence ministry official would not comment on the issue. But he did say that Afghanistan had come under pressure from the West to remove a senior AAF official over corruption allegations. They could not provide credible evidence, he told.
Western officials say preliminary findings of the investigation suggest certain senior officials in the AAF and other parts of the Afghan government may have been involved in the alleged drugs and weapons transporting, or have turned a blind eye to the activity.
Major General Abdul Wahab Wardak, the AAF commander, told the drug-running allegations were baseless and they must be proven. We never do such things, he added. The allegations are likely to raise further doubts over the ability of Afghan forces to secure the country before foreign combat troops withdraw at the end of 2014. The AAF was set up mostly with US funds.
Afghanistan accounts for some 90% of the worlds illicit opium production, according to the United Nations. Before the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan, opium revenue enabled commanders of the Northern Alliancethe anti-Taliban fighters who would later aid the US in toppling the regimeto finance their war effort.
Many of these commanders now occupy senior positions in the Afghan security forces or government. American investigators say they believe some of these former commanders are now selling drugs again to buy weapons. Their aim: to rearm loyal militias in northern Afghanistan in case civil war erupts after most foreign forces withdraw from the country in 2014. reuters
