Senator accused of trying to steal wheat aid

KUNDUZ CITY (PAN), seizing four of his trucks in northern Baghlan province, on Wednesday accused a senator of stealing more than 200 tonnes of wheat from the Pul-i-Khumri Silo.

The wheat was to be distributed to nomadic Kuchis in Doh-i-Ghori and Dand-i-Ghori areas of Pul-i-Khumri and Baghlan-i-Markazi district, but the vehicles were caught while shifting the wheat back to Kabul, an intelligence official revealed.

He confided to Pajhwok Afghan News on condition of anonymity the wheat weighing 140 tonnes were seized in the Dushi district of Baghlan. But the two other trucks were yet to be found, the source added.

The wheat assistance was to be distributed to Kuchis in the presence of a four-member delegation from the governor’s office and the Afghanistan Natural Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA).

But Senator Faqir Mohammad Nazari tried to steal 204 tonnes of wheat without informing the delegation, said the ANDMA provincial chief, Naseer Ahmad Kohzad.

The grain storage belongs to the agriculture department, which may be complicit in the attempted stealing, believed a member of the team from the governor’s office, Safa Khan.

But Senator Faqiri said he received permission from 1st Vice-President Marshal Qaseem Fahim for shifting the wheat. “I took the wheat to Baghlan-i-Markazi district, but the Kuchis there have migrated to the northern part of Salang, so I wanted to distribute it there.”

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