Afghanistan Times
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AT-KABUL: Afghan military officials in eastern Nangarhar province say they detained a man who planned to smuggle timbers to Pakistan—a black, but a lucrative business that the Afghan government since long has been scrambling to put a complete halt to its practicing.
201 Selab Military Corps Forces on Tuesday arrested a man planned to smuggle timbers from Haska Mina district to Pakistan, Nangarhar Governor Spokesman Attaullah Khogyani said.
He identified the detainee as “Zarif’, who is originally a resident of Haska Mina district.
He fully packed a vehicle with timbers cutting from the district’s jungle, the spokesman said. “He was detained in Gherghelai area of the district.”
He confessed to his crime and currently under custody until new development made over his case, Khogyani added.
Smuggling timbers to Pakistan is illegal, but it keeps continuing as it earns good income.
Last year, reports spread around that Islamic State (IS), which is widely known as Daesh extremist group that was engaged in chopping down fruit trees and smuggling the timber into Pakistan from Deh Bala district of Nangarhar province.
The Deh Bala district in eastern Nangarhar has thousands of pine nut trees that locals rely on as the only natural source of income.
However, similar incidents were also reported in the neighboring Achin and Nazian districts where locals said Daesh militants using cutting-edge technology to cut down the jungles.
