INVESTIGATORS are examining allegations that Afghan firms have been extorting millions of dollars a week and then funnelling them to the Taliban.
If the allegations are true, the US would be unintentionally financing the enemy and undermining international efforts to stabilise the country.
The payments reportedly end up in insurgent hands through a $US2.1 billion Pentagon contract to transport food, water, fuel and ammunition to American troops stationed at bases across Afghanistan. To ensure safe passage through dangerous areas, the trucking companies make payments to local security firms with ties to the Taliban or warlords who control the roads.
If the payments are not made, the convoys will be attacked, according to a US military document detailing the allegations being examined by investigators. The document says the companies hired under the Afghan Host Nation Trucking Contract may be paying between $US2m and $US4m a week to insurgent groups.
Chris Grey, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command, confirmed the inquiry was under way. But he said he would not provide details in order “to protect the integrity of the ongoing case”.
One of the security firms under scrutiny is Watan Risk Management, one of the largest security providers in Afghanistan. Watan representatives allegedly negotiate or dictate the price for security in a given area, according to the document, and also issue warnings to trucking companies that are late in paying or refuse to do so.
Transporting supplies and materiel across such hostile terrain requires extraordinary levels of security. A typical convoy of supply trucks going from the Bagram air base outside Kabul to Kandahar in the south, for instance, will travel with up to 500 guards in dozens of trucks armed with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
Firefights with insurgents are common. One warlord who provides convoy security told House investigators he spends $US1.5m on ammunition per month. A congressional sub-committee chaired by Democrat John Tierney has also been investigating the extortion allegations and was due to hold a hearing overnight on its findings.
Mr Tierney said the trucking contract was a critical component of the effort to keep more than 200 US military combat outposts throughout the country stocked. Supplies are typically shipped through Pakistan to Bagram airfield, the US military’s main hub in Afghanistan, and then on to the outlying bases.
Bribes and kickbacks are often part of the business environment in Afghanistan. The report singles out an Afghan warlord called Commander Ruhullah – known to locals as “The Butcher” for his violent tactics – as “the single-largest security provider for the US supply chain in Afghanistan”.
The Pentagon has acknowledged it has a problem with corruption in Afghanistan. On Friday, the Defence Department announced plans to create a taskforce to investigate widespread allegations that companies hired with Western money to provide security, supplies and reconstruction work for allied forces were siphoning off cash and enriching Afghan powerbrokers.
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