Daily Telegraph: A notorious Afghan criminal was recruited to spy for Iran before returning to Afghanistan to become a police chief, according to the leaked US war logs.
The Daily Telegraph
A notorious Afghan criminal was recruited to spy for Iran before returning to Afghanistan to become a police chief, according to the leaked US war logs.
By Heidi Blake
The classified US documents, which were released through the Wikileaks website at the weekend, claim the wealthy drug baron was drafted into the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to act as a spy during the occupation of Afghanistan by Russia.
In return, he was granted protection by the jihadi commanders in western Afghanistan, who apparently secured him a job as a chief of police in Farah province after Russian troops withdrew in 1989.
The criminal reportedly abused his police position to collect tithes from opium-farmers in exchange for protection.
The officer, who controlled the local highway police, allegedly used his powers to allow convoys of drug smugglers to travel freely.
The report dated May 13 2007, from Farah’s US provincial reconstruction team, says: “It was reported that [X] is a notorious criminal in Afghanistan and a spy for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”
It goes on: “During the time of the jihad in Afghanistan against the Russians, [X] did not participate in the jihad, but went into Iran and became a spy for the IRGC. By order of the IRGC, the jihadi commanders in western Afghanistan were to protect [X] and help him attain a government job. In this way, [X] became [a] chief of police.”
The papers describe an incident in which an honest police officer named Qateb Saleh attempted to stop a convoy of drug smugglers in western Farah province.
The corrupt chief had him imprisoned and allegedly later sold him to a bloodthirsty tribe of drug smugglers, who killed him.
“During the ensuing struggle, Qateb Saleh shot one of the drug smugglers, who were [sic] a member of the Gorg tribe,” the report says.
“The Gorg tribesmen are notorious drug smugglers in Lash Jaween district, X had Qateb Saleh thrown in jail because of his actions against the drug smugglers.”
The report continues: “X later sold Qateb Saleh into the hands of the Gorg tribe. Members of the Gorg tribe put a rope around Qateb Saleh’s’s neck and dragged him behind a car through the streets of Farah city … until he died.”
