GARDEZ (SW) – The governor of Paktia has told Salam Watandar that the Taliban insurgents are forcefully extorting money from all development projects underway in the province.
In an exclusive interview, Haleem Fidayee said the Taliban have been extorting money from public and private sector developers, contractor and traders here. He said the insurgents are busy collecting this wealth in the guise of ‘holy Jehad’ against the Afghan government.
He went on to say that the insurgents bagged at least AFN 300 million this year so far through such means.
Chairman of the provincial council, Abdul Malik Zazai has confirmed these reports. He said the insurgents do not allow any development project to be executed in the province if they are not paid out of it.
Meanwhile, the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed has rejected these allegations. The group’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said they do collect three per cent from some development projects ‘for security purposes’.
Documents obtained by Salam Watandar indicate the insurgents bagged some AFN 5 million during past 20 months from the Machalgo Dam project in the Ahmad Abad district alone. They Taliban have also erected check posts to collect money from transporters on the Gardez – Pathan road.
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