US-led forces fan the flames of corruption in Afghanistan: Analyst

The US-led “war on terror” in Afghanistan has led to corruption in the war-ravaged country as billions of US dollars are paid to the Taliban and US contractors rather than being spent on reconstruction, a journalist tells Press TV.

Afghan journalist Abdul Hamid Noorzad said that the US and other NATO member states have made security companies in Afghanistan that were “creating some illegitimate work” in the country.

“For example, they committed corruption; they paid money to the Taliban and to other terrorists that every day are killing Afghan people – by using the money that comes from the United States that comes from Britain that comes from other NATO member countries,” he said in an interview with Press TV on Saturday.

Noorzad also said that Afghan people do not trust Americans, as since the beginning of the Afghan war in 2001 they have heard of billions of US dollars into the country but could not find out “in which places have these billions of dollars been spent?”

“The people in our country do not have priority; they still do not have access to health, the people still do not have access to clinics so of course lots of this money has gone back to the United States gone back to Britain and other countries through corruption that was accessed from the NGO agencies,” he added.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of combating terrorism. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country despite the presence of thousands of US-led troops.

The US-led war in Afghanistan, which has caused record-high civilian and military casualties, has become the longest military conflict in US history.