| JAMMU, June 9: Pakistan has set up a highly developed narcotic producing and trafficking network under the control of the Inter Services Intelligence and its army which it still uses to finance militants in Jammu and Kashmir. "The trafficking was used to finance the Afghan militants and Kashmiri separatists, while part of proceeds went to top Pakistani bureaucrats and the practice continues," a Russian newspaper has 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, situation radically changed," it said. Fearing international isolation, Islamabad hurriedly invented the Taliban militia as cover-up for its narcotics trade, which is also basis of its prosperity. "About 30000 Pakistanis, mostly belonging to the regular army, are fighting for the Taliban. They plan major Taliban operations, co-ordinate espionage activities and organise deliveries of arms and ammunition into Afghanistan. Pakistanis are also the backbone of the Kashmir militancy," 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 Terrorism, Islamabad is giving all-round support to the terrorists. |
