Afghan accused of funding Taleban arrested
US says suspect handled millions of dollars for militants
ISLAMABAD, Nov 30, (RTRS): Coalition and Afghan forces have arrested a currency dealer suspected of handling millions of dollars of Taliban cash as part of a widening campaign to block insurgent finances ahead of a security handover in 2014, officials said on Thursday.
The US Treasury has accused Haji Mohammed Qasim of using his network of money transfer shops to help Taliban commanders send funds to fighters in southern Helmand Province, scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the 11-year war.
“I can confirm he was arrested during a joint operation conducted by Afghan and coalition troops,” Captain Dan Einert, a spokesman for ISAF, the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, said in an email. ISAF gave no further details.
Dealers in the currency market in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar said Qasim had been arrested by US troops, Afghan police and intelligence officers who raided the exchange in October.
“The Americans won’t tell us where he is,” said Haji Kandiagha, the president of the exchange. “Everyone is angry about this, they don’t know what the Americans will do.”
As the United States and its allies withdraw the vast majority of their combat troops, Western officials are hoping to weaken the still resilient insurgency by disrupting its funding channels before Afghan forces assume full responsibility for security.
The Treasury imposed sanctions on Qasim and his Rahat money transfer company last week, adding him to a growing list of individuals subjected to a US asset freeze on suspicion of facilitating Taliban payments. He was also accused of smuggling weapons and ammunition on behalf of the insurgents.
The Treasury had no immediate comment on the arrest.
Treasury officials in Washington made no ref- erence to Qasim’s arrest in last week’s statement announcing the sanctions, which was issued in Washington.
The discrepancy appeared to underline the complexity of US attempts to counter insurgent finance, which often involve multiple organisations conducting covert work.
US officials believe the Taliban relies on a trust-based payment system known as hawala which is prevalent in much of the Islamic world, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The system allows customers to rapidly move large sums across borders outside the scrutiny of regulators.
Afghan hawala dealers say they are being unfairly targeted since they cannot be held responsible if Taliban sympathisers use their services without their knowledge. They also resent the fact that the Treasury does not publish the evidence it uses to justify imposing sanctions on individuals such as Qasim.