Afghan district administrator accused of militant links, corruption; 2nd official arrested

Senior Afghan official accused of militant links

KABUL — A district administrator in northwestern Afghanistan has been accused of militant links and corruption charges, officials said Monday, the second senior Afghan official to be arrested in the past week.

The allegations come amid fears of infiltration and pressure on President Hamid Karzai to crack down on corruption in the ranks.

The chief administrator in Bala Murghab, a heavily Taliban influenced area, was detained late Thursday but officials did not disclose the news until after his interrogation.

Aminullah, who like many Afghans only goes by one name, was accused of passing sensitive military and intelligence information to militants through a man who worked in his office, according to the chief prosecutor assigned to the case.

He also faced corruption charges for allegedly selling government property and cooking oil meant for poor people for personal gain, prosecutor Mohammad Nahim Naziry said.

Naziry said Aminullah’s brother also was the leader of a militant cell that attacked Afghan and foreign forces in Bala Murghab.

He said Aminullah was arrested by NATO-backed Afghan troops. NATO said it was looking into the report.

The case was sensitive and delegations from the governor’s office, police and intelligence services were expected to travel to Bala Murghab to participate in the investigation.

Deputy provincial governor Abdul Ghani Sabery confirmed the corruption charges but said he had no information that Aminullah was helping militants.

A deputy provincial police chief in Kapisa province, Attaullah Wahab, was arrested Friday and accused of involvement in a roadside bomb network as well as corruption charges.

U.S.-led forces are increasing efforts to train Afghan police and soldiers and overcome concerns about infiltration by Taliban militants and corruption so the international force can eventually withdraw.

A bomb killed two British soldiers Sunday near Sangin in Helmand province, Britain’s Defense Ministry said.

Defense Secretary Bob Ainsworth has warned Britons to expect casualties as U.S, British and Afghan troops launch an operation soon to clear Taliban insurgents from the area.

Commanders have been careful not to release a start date for the offensive, and the ministry said the two deaths were not part of it.

Sweden’s military also said a gunman who killed two Swedish officers and their local interpreter Sunday in northern Afghanistan was wearing a police uniform.

The shooting occurred while the Swedish patrol was visiting a police station near the village of Gurgi Tappeh, but military spokesman Gustaf Wallerfeldt said it was unclear if the gunman — who also was killed — was a policeman or an impostor.

Heavy rain caused a minibus to crash on a mountain pass near Kandahar, killing 16 people Sunday night, provincial government spokesman Zalmay Ayubi said.

Associated Press writer Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.