TALIBAN bosses have made a fortune helping to build stadiums in Qatar ahead of the World Cup sources have claimed.
Developers are said to have paid millions to senior officials of the ruthless militant group in order to use heavy construction machinery.
A source from the Taliban’s office in Doha who lived in the area during the decade before Afghanistan’s fall last year said Taliban officials invested millions from their jaw-dropping salaries into infrastructure machinery.
The source told the Telegraph: “The Taliban invested heavily in the World Cup construction and the tournament was a golden duck. They were paid millions.
“Some Taliban members had between six and ten pieces of heavy machinery each in Doha and would earn up to £10,000 per machine per month.”
A spokesperson for the terrorist group has denied the claims saying “there was no such transaction ” while Qatari officials said there was no wrongdoing in the arrangements.
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Two sources claimed officials were given large sums of money to live in the country during peace negotiations with the UN.
A former senior Afghan diplomat said: “It was an open secret in the Afghan Embassy in Doha that the Taliban negotiations team and political office were being paid well by the Qatari regime and they invested these salaries in construction equipment for the World Cup.
The outlet reports Qatari authorities have spent thousands of pounds paying Taliban officials during their stay in the country for peace talks with the West.
They were also offered other perks including luxury vehicles, free health care and food deliveries.
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The allowances were paid in cash at first and later transferred to the officials’ bank accounts with Qatari authorities claiming the payments were “monitored in coordination” with the US, “including the total amounts and how and where it was spent”.
Taliban chief Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that the claim is “far from the truth” and said “there was no such transaction.”
The Talibans’ alleged links to the World Cup raise questions over the already controversial tournament.
Qatar’s tournament has faced outrage over the country’s human rights practices amid claims thousands of migrant workers have died in the construction industry.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
