Calling Afghan Tajiks "Taliban" is like calling Iraqi Sunnis alqaeda. Taliban are Pashtun.
Slamming Tajiks, Russians, how about the French? They missed the French. -Bob --- In cia-drugs@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > -----Original Message----- > From: Alamaine [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To: CTRL [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 8:51 am > Subject: [ctrl] Afghan heroin trade is fuelling the Taliban insurgency > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Independent.co.uk > > Drugs for guns: how the Afghan heroin trade is fuelling the Taliban > > insurgency > > http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/drugs-for-guns-how-the-afgh\ an-heroin-trade-is-fuelling-the-taliban-insurgency-817230.html > > By Jerome Starkey in Kunduz > > Tuesday, 29 April 2008 > > > > The heroin flooding Britain's streets is threatening the lives of UK > > troops in Afghanistan, an Independent investigation can reveal. > > > > Russian gangsters who smuggle drugs into Britain are buying cheap heroin > > from Afghanistan and paying for it with guns. Smugglers told The > > Independent how Russian arms dealers meet Taliban drug lords at a bazaar > > near the old Afghan-Soviet border, deep in Tajikistan's desert. The bazaar > > exists solely to trade Afghan drugs for Russian guns â" and sometimes a bit > > of sex on the side. > > > > The drugs are destined for Britain's streets. The guns go straight to the > > Taliban front line. The weapons on sale include machine guns, sniper > > rifles and anti-aircraft weapons like the ones used in the attempt to > > assassinate the Afghan President Hamid Karzai last weekend. > > > > "We never sell the drugs for money," boasted one of the smugglers. "We > > exchange them for ammunition and Kalashnikovs." > > > > The drugs come mostly from Helmand, where most of Britain's 7,800 troops > > are based. The opium grown there is turned into heroin at factories inside > > Afghanistan, sold into Tajikistan and smuggled to Europe. The guns are > > broken down into parts, smuggled back into Afghanistan and delivered to > > the Taliban. One kilogram of heroin can buy about 30 AK-47 assault rifles > > at the bazaar. > > > > Nato claims the Taliban get between 40 and 60 per cent of their income > > from drugs. The smugglers' claims suggest the real cost could be far > > higher. > > > > The smugglers described a bleak village with no homes, hidden in the > > desert near the border. Inside open-air courtyards up to 300 shopkeepers > > sit in small booths. They act as agents of the Russian mafia who supply > > the guns and spirit the drugs away. The Afghans are agents of corrupt > > officials in their government, said a mid-level lieutenant Daoud. > > > > Around them lurk Tajik prostitutes, selling themselves for a few scraps of > > surplus heroin. "They will do anything. They just want some heroin and we > > always have some spare," said another smuggler. > > > > We interviewed three smugglers in the lawless border areas north and east > > of Kunduz, a city in northern Afghanistan, as well as a Taliban go-between > > who was visiting from Helmand. > > > > Speaking from his headquarters in Kunduz province, Daoud said Afghan > > smugglers lug sacks of grade-A heroin across the river Oxus, which marks > > the Tajik border. They drive pick-ups as far as they can, take motorbikes > > where the cars can't go, and finish the journey on foot. "We leave early > > in the evening and get there around 9am the next day," he said. "There > > aren't even any tracks because we never ride the motorbikes to the same > > place twice." > > > > The heroin is harvested from opium farms across Afghanistan and taken to > > factories in the remote Pamir mountains in the Badakhshan region, where it > > is turned into heroin. It takes about 15kg of opium to make 1kg of heroin, > > said Daoud. From Badakhshan it is brought west to Kunduz, for the trip to > > Tajikistan. The weapons follow similar routes, but in the opposite > > direction, south and east to the fighting. > > > > "We are like a company," said Daoud. "We have some big sponsors who > > support us in the government." > > > > A kilogram of the best Afghan heroin is worth £600 in Afghanistan. It is > > worth twice as much at the bazaar in Tajikistan. But rather than take > > cash, they take weapon parts, because they double their value in > > Afghanistan. An AK-47 assault rifle costs £50 at the bazaar. It is worth > > up to £100 in northern Afghanistan, and even more in the south and east > > where demand for guns is higher, because of the fighting. > > > > The Taliban go-between said fighters in Helmand expect to get six AK-47s > > for 1kg of good quality heroin, a similar number of rocket-propelled > > grenades or a dozen boxes of ammunition. > > > > British special forces have arrested or killed drugs smugglers linked to > > the insurgency, alongside a secretive unit of the Afghan army called 333, > > but the bulk of the International Security Assistance Force is handicapped > > by its mandate which does not include counter-narcotics operations, unless > > they can be linked to the insurgency. > > > > The smugglers claimed they are "untouchable" because their bosses include > > cabinet-level officials in the government. British officials suspect > > senior government insiders are involved in the drugs trade, but they have > > struggled to get the support from Mr Karzai, or the evidence, to arrest > > them. > > > > Opium production has soared since 2001. The head of British-led efforts to > > crack down on the crop, David Belgrove, said: "This proves what we and the > > rest of the international community have been saying. There's clear > > evidence that the drugs trade fuels the insurgency." > > > > The commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, the US general, Dan McNeill, > > pledged to take his mandate to the limit to target drug traffickers. But > > so far, the smugglers insist they are not feeling the pinch. > > > > Violence last year reached record highs, and the Taliban have launched two > > attacks in Kabul this year. "The heroin is what lets us fight," said the > > Taliban go-between. > > Query: Independent.co.uk The Web > > Go > > > > ©independent.co.uk Legal Terms & Policies | E-mail sign-up | RSS | Contact > > us | Syndication | Work for INM | Advertising Guide | Group Sites | London > > Careers > > > > -- > > Alamaine, IVe > > Grand Forks, ND, US of A > > ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ > > "All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusion is called a > > philosopher." - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) > > > > "Being ignorant is not such a shame as being unwilling to learn." - > > Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758 (Benjamin Franklin) > > ~~~~~~~ > > In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material is > > distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior > > interest in receiving the included information for research and > > educational purposes. >
