PESHAWAR: Authorities have frozen bank accounts of two Afghan trading firms suspected of funnelling funds to leaders of the Taliban, security officials said on Wednesday. Agents of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) raided offices of the firms on Tuesday in Peshawar after requests from Interpol and the Afghan government, the officials said. “We seized documents during the raid which show that the firms were transferring money to the Taliban,” one of the officials said. “We have frozen 15 bank accounts of the firms in Peshawar and Islamabad.”
Government agents raided offices of Shirkat Special and Amria Food, a government official said. Also on Wednesday, a local newspaper reported that Taliban chief Mulla Mohammad Omar had a share in both firms. Both companies were set up during TalibanÂ’s rule in Afghanistan, and the paper said that they were involved in million-dollar transactions. They also had offices in Afghanistan, Dubai, Malaysia and Indonesia under different names, the paper reported.
The official said that no one from the firms had been arrested, but a customs clearing agent who dealt with the companies had been detained. Another security official said that the firms, which deal in edible oil, sugar and other food items, are owned by an Afghan family from the southern province of Kandahar, with close ties to Mulla Omar. Officials of the firms could not be reached for comment. Officials from the Interior Ministry were also not available. |