KANDAHAR - Kandahar police chief general Abdul Raziq on Sunday warned the wealthy in the province against paying their Zakat (charity) to the Taliban amid reports that businessmen, company owners and landholders were donating money to the Taliban and the Quetta Shura.
He said that the money paid to the Taliban as charity funds the insurgents war.
Raziq said that police will deal with those who do not abide by this in accordance with the law.
"The Taliban fuel their war machine from the money they receive from the people, therefore we call on wealthy people to stop raising money, otherwise the police will deal with such people according to the law," Raziq said.
He said that police in recent years have arrested dozens of the people for giving donations to the Taliban. But they were later released with the mediation of tribal elders.
He called on the tribal elders to help in this regard saying it will bolster security in the country.
"We detained dozens of people in connection with the issue, but they were later released after tribal elders intervened. We request the people to cooperate with police in this respect and to not allow Afghans to be killed with their own money," he said.
Meanwhile, people in the province have warmly welcomed the move, asking the rich to rather donate money to the needy instead of the Taliban.
"We extremely support the move by the police. This will improve security and we are ready to cooperate with the security forces in this respect," a Kandahar resident Shahid Khan said.
"We call on all the people of Afghanistan to cooperate in improving the security, we also demand the wealthy people help the needy and poor not the Taliban," another resident Ahmad Shah said.
Taliban are known to collect donations from Afghans across the nation.(Tolonews)