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'Pakistan using drug trafficking
to finance J&K ultras'

"The trafficking was used to finance the Afghan mujahideen and Kashmiri separatists, while part of the proceeds went to top Pakistani bureaucrats and the practice continues," Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported.

"In the years of Soviet-United States rivalry, Islamabad could indulge in heroin trade without problems, but with the break-up of the USSR, the situation radically changed," it said.

Fearing international isolation, Islamabad "hurriedly invented" the Taleban militia as a cover-up for its narcotics trade, which is also the basis of its prosperity, wrote the daily.

"About 3000 Pakistanis, mostly belonging to the regular army, are fighting for the Taleban. They plan major Taleban operations, co-ordinate espionage activities and organise deliveries of arms and ammunition into Afghanistan. Pakistanis are also the backbone of the Taleban Air Force," the daily wrote.

About 80 per cent of the Afghan economy is mainly involved in growing poppy, which is taken to Pakistan's narcotics-producing town of Chutta for processing, the daily wrote, explaining why in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions against Taleban, Islamabad is giving all-round support to the Taleban.

PTI

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