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75-573: It is the main bank used to pay the salaries of the national army and security police forces . The bank provides facilities to maintain accounts in Current, Savings Bank, and Fixed deposits; and offers its consumers branch and automated teller machine services. The bank is under the supervision of the Central Bank of Afghanistan ( Da Afghanistan Bank−DAB ), the General Directorate of Treasury, and

150-639: A central force reported at six battalions strong, plus additional second tier units, "the bulk of the army, ..made up of regional battalions, subordinate to local commanders of the Supervisory Council." On 16 January 1993 Jane's Defence Weekly reported that "a special assembly of 1335 delegates elected from across Afghanistan" had both elected Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani as President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan for two years, and agreed to "establish

225-560: A crime, but Deputy Attorney General Enayatullah Nazari said the government intends to bring them to court. "A crime has happened", Nazari said. "They will go to the court whether they manage to secure the money or not". Authorities loosened the terms of their detention and provided them with a security detail to go to a bank office on workdays and on occasion to fancy restaurants and hotels for what Nazari described as work meetings. With regard to public sector corruption in Afghanistan and

300-522: A dozen An-24 and An-32s , an IL-18 , and a Yakovlev. Their civil air service contained two Boeing 727 A/Bs, a Tu-154 , five An-24s , and a DHC-6 . On 3 August 1995, Taliban Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighters forced a Russian Ilyushin-76 cargo plane carrying arms from Albania to Afghanistan to land at Kandahar . Negotiations between the Russian government and the Taliban to free the men stalled for over

375-552: A lack of capacity in our institutions, there is a lack of laws and a lack of accountability, which is much more serious. It's a case of the blind leading the blind. They are too young, they are babies." Mahmood Karzai is one of the brothers of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and a seven-percent shareholder in the bank. In a telephone interview with the Boston Globe in September 2010, he said: "America should do something." In October,

450-453: A mid-February 2011 visit by Neal Wolin, the U.S. deputy Treasury secretary, the Afghan finance ministry said that weak international support had exacerbated the crisis. "Afghan and US officials agreed that (the crisis)... was compounded by the erroneous audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers , and ineffective international technical assistance and supervision", the ministry said. However, Wolin pressed

525-853: A new loan. Afghanistan has been without an IMF program since the Kabul Bank failure, but the IMF announced that it is moving ahead on a new $ 129 million loan in the wake of the government's reform promises, with a new program expected to be submitted to the IMF executive board for approval in November 2011. At the end of June 2011, the Washington Post reported that Farnood and Frozi used fake names, forged documents, fictitious companies and secret records as part of an elaborate ruse to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to shareholders and top Afghan officials, including President Karzai's brother Mahmood and Mohammed Fahim ,

600-620: A regular army with soldiers mostly drawn from Mojahedin groups." Pakistan had offered training assistance. However, a Civil War started between the various warlords, including Ahmad Shah Massoud , Gulbuddin Hekmatyar , Abdul Rashid Dostum, Abdul Ali Mazari , Jalaluddin Haqqani , Ismail Khan , Atta Muhammad Nur , Abdul Rasul Sayyaf , Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi , Mohammad Yunus Khalis , Gul Agha Sherzai and many others. The Taliban movement arose around Kandahar in southern Afghanistan and defeated

675-564: A result of connections to the bank and Hamid Karzai . During the bank scandal and panic in September 2010, hundreds of Afghans, including many civil servants and their families, gathered outside Kabul Bank offices in the capital and elsewhere in Afghanistan. Long lines formed of depositors hoping to withdrawal some or all of their money. Afghan police beat back mobs at the Kabul Bank worried their money would be lost according to The Washington Post . Panic set in among many depositors according to reports by The New York Times . On 27 December 2010,

750-494: A small group of Afghan insiders (less than 12 people), apparently linked to Mahmoud Karzai , President Hamid Karzai and Ahmed Wali Karzai . This resulted in nearly $ 1 billion ($ 900 million) in Kabul Bank's deposits seemingly vanishing into Dubai and other off-shore locations and unknown offshore bank accounts and tax havens . Hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars were often smuggled and flown out of Afghanistan secretly stashed in bags and airline food trays. On 28 November 2012,

825-473: A suicide car bomber killed at least three Afghans, including one policeman, as he targeted police officers who lined up to withdraw their salaries in front of Kabul Bank in central Kandahar ; the midday explosion also wounded 16 policemen and five civilians, officials said. On 19 February 2011, at least 38 people (including 13 policemen) were killed during an insurgent raid on a branch of Kabul Bank in Jalalabad ,

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900-401: A year after the government seized control, officials had recovered less than 10 percent of the nearly $ 1 billion that went missing. After only six years in operation, in 2010 there was a panic of customers seeking to withdraw their savings from the bank. Despite nearly $ 1 billion in U.S. taxpayers' funded assistance in the form of Afghan government salaries deposited into Kabul Bank, Kabul Bank

975-594: A year and efforts by American senator Hank Brown to mediate between the two parties broke down over a prisoner exchange. Brown was able to get the Taliban to agree that the Russian crew should be allowed to maintain their aircraft. This request paved the way for their escape. The army under the Taliban Islamic Movement was inaugurated on 8 November 2021 as the Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan , which

1050-676: Is also referred to as the Islamic National Army , the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army . The army itself relies heavily on captured hardware from the defeated Afghan National Army. Approximately 2,000 vehicles fell into Taliban hands after the Fall of Kabul , including the Humvee , M1117 Guardian , MaxxPro MRAP and Oshkosh ATV . In terms of infantry equipment, captured items include

1125-461: Is reported to have played a significant role in the bank scandal, and is alleged to have received millions of dollars in loans from Kabul Bank. He was later alleged to be under investigation by a U.S. Federal grand jury and U.S. tax authorities, including the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for tax evasion allegations. Canada's Maclean's magazine reported that Mahmoud Karzai was being investigated for racketeering , extortion and tax evasion as

1200-481: Is stabilised, it has enough cash at its disposal and the central bank is trying to rehabilitate the bank and then at some point sell it to potential buyers in two or three years," Fitrat told Reuters. In early July 2011, Fitrat resigned as head of the central bank after fleeing to the United States, claiming his life had been threatened and that he was being made a scapegoat for politically connected individuals. After

1275-765: The Washington Post reported that Mahmood Karzai could soon be indicted for tax evasion in the U.S., though he denied the charges, telling the newspaper: "I'm very clean", and insisting his only interest was "rebuilding Afghanistan." In mid-January 2011, acting chief financial officer and other Pakistani employees of Kabul Bank fled to Pakistan, apparently out of fear for their lives and possible arrest, though some said they were being made scapegoats for powerful shareholders. Afghan authorities also called in several bank managers, including foreigners, for questioning and detained some in southern Afghanistan's Helmand Province in connection with illicit transfers of bank funds. In early February 2011, DAB Governor Abdul Qadir Fitrat said

1350-592: The Afghanistan Ministry of Finance (MOF). The Kabul Bank was established in 2004. Kabul Bank claims that accounts can be opened and maintained in afghani , U.S. dollars and euro . Kabul Bank claims that it is connected throughout the globe with SWIFT facility, which enables fund transfer for its customers. The bank has correspondent relationship with seven international banks situated in Germany, China, Iran , Tajikistan , Saudi Arabia and India. Kabul Bank

1425-597: The Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan ( Pashto : د اسلامي امارت وسله وال ځواکونه , Dari : نیروهای مسلح امارت اسلامی افغانستان) and also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Armed Forces , is the military of Afghanistan , commanded by the Taliban government from 1997 to 2001 and since August 2021. According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense , its total manpower is 170,000. The Taliban created

1500-591: The Islamic Emirate Air Force and the Afghan Air Force . The air force acquired UH-60 Black Hawks , Mil Mi-24s (most of them without engines), Mil Mi-8s / Mil Mi-17s , A-29 Super Tucanos , Cessna 208s , and C-130 Hercules . On 11 January 2022, the air force successfully repaired and flew unserviceable aircraft which were abandoned by the US Army and the former Afghan National Army after Kabul fell to

1575-515: The M4 carbine , M16 rifle , night-vision goggles, body armor suits, communication equipment and shoulder-mounted grenade launchers. These U.S. made firearms are reportedly replacing Russian made AK-47s and AK-74s carried by most Taliban fighters. From 1 September 2021 to 10 January 2022, 15,102 newly trained fighters were inducted into the Islamic Emirate Army as calculated on the official site,

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1650-464: The Mafia and other organized crime. Originally and often still specifically, racketeering may refer to a criminal act in which the perpetrators offer a service that will not be put into effect, offer a service to solve a nonexistent problem, or offer a service that solves a problem that would not exist without the racket. However, racketeers may also sometimes offer an ostensibly effectual service outside of

1725-461: The Teamsters Union. Specifically, a racket was defined by this coinage as being a service that calls forth its own demand, and would not have been needed otherwise. Narrowly, it means coercive or fraudulent business practices; broadly, it can mean any criminal scheme or operation with ongoing or reoccurring profit, as defined in the 1970 U.S. RICO Act , which aimed to curtail the power of

1800-508: The " numbers racket " or the " drug racket ", neither of which generally or necessarily involve extortion, coercion, fraud, or deception with regard to the intended clientele. Because of the clandestine nature of the black market , most proceeds made from criminal rackets often go untaxed . On October 15, 1970, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ( 18 U.S.C.   §§ 1961 – 1968 ), commonly referred to as

1875-526: The "RICO Act", became United States law. The RICO Act allows federal law enforcement to charge a person or group of people with racketeering, defined as committing multiple violations of certain varieties within a ten-year period. The purpose of the RICO Act was stated as "the elimination of the infiltration of organized crime and racketeering into legitimate organizations operating in interstate commerce ". S.Rep. No. 617, 91st Cong. , 1st Sess. 76 (1968). However,

1950-877: The Afghan Armed Forces in 1985 were reduced to no more than about 47,000, the actual figure probably being lower. The Air Force had over 150 combat aircraft with about 7,000 officers who were supported by up to 5,000 Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force and Czechoslovak Air Force advisers. Under the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (1978–1992), weapon deliveries by the Soviets were increased and included Mi-24 helicopters, MiG-23 fighter aircraft, ZSU-23-4 Shilka and ZSU-57-2 anti-aircraft self-propelled mounts, MT-LB armored personnel carriers, BM-27 Uragan and BM-21 Grad multiple-launch rocket systems and 9K52 Luna-M and Scud missile launchers. Some of

2025-404: The Afghan populace." At the beginning of September, Frozi, one of the two largest shareholders of Kabul Bank, said reports indicating that the institution had lost as much as $ 300 million were overstated. But he predicted that if Afghan depositors continued to withdraw their money at the current rate, Kabul Bank would almost certainly collapse, undermining confidence in the nascent financial system

2100-774: The Afghanistan GCPSU, which function under the Islamic Republic up until 2021 as a police tactical unit. The Taliban created and ran a small air force in from 1996 to 2001. In late 2001 Operation Crescent Wind was the initial series of U.S. air strikes on Afghanistan. Initial U.S. targets included command and control nodes , air defenses, as well as the modest Air Force, with the airports of Kabul , Herat , Kandahar , Zaranj and Mazar-i-Sharif being targeted. The Taliban were believed to have had 40 pilots capable of getting some 50 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 ( ASCC "Fishbed") and Sukhoi Su-22s (ASCC "Fitter") airborne, though there

2175-717: The Afghans have been trying to build with American help. "If this goes on, we won’t survive", Mr. Frozi said in an interview. "If people lose trust in the banks, there will be a revolution in the financial system." Afghan leaders promised to guarantee deposits in an attempt to arrest the panic, which began at the end of August 2010 when the country's top banking officials demanded the resignations of both Frozi and Farnood. "The government has decided that there will be an audit firm that will be coming to audit not only Kabul Bank accounts but also other private banks in Afghanistan", an Afghan presidential spokesman announced in late October. Earlier in

2250-700: The Ghani Administration in Kabul reportedly officially re-opened the investigation. After corruption and scandals it was re-established in 2011 as the New Kabul Bank. In 2011, 38 customers at the bank's branch in Jalalabad were killed by a Taliban bombing. Fighting with security forces lasted four hours, and four of the attackers were killed. Two men were later charged for the attack and executed in June 2011. A third person

2325-500: The Independent Joint Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee published its report and declared in a news conference that US$ 5 billion, including $ 400 million the Kabul Bank's shareholders, were illegally transferred abroad. About 22 people are accused of embezzlement in the case, and their trial started. At three hearings, 18 people, including Sher Khan Farnood and Khalil Ferozi, appeared before

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2400-536: The Islamic State or an associated group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the entrance of a New Kabul Bank branch in Jalalabad , where government workers waited in line to collect salaries. 34 people were killed at least, and 125 injured. In June 2017, a Taliban suicide bomber killed 29 people at a Kabul Bank branch in the Helmand province. In August 2017, there were reports of long lines and slow services at

2475-465: The Kabul Bank Crisis to justice, extend and enforce prison sentences for those previously convicted, and seek to recover hundreds of millions of U.S. and Afghan taxpayers' dollars in funds stolen or lost by embezzlement , corruption , and fraud by the bank's insiders. Ghani vowed to seek to continue the investigation of the Kabul Bank crisis and fight corruption in Afghanistan . In October 2014,

2550-400: The Kabul Bank crisis aftermath, was murdered by suicide bombers and gunmen in Kabul along with some 21 others in a high-profile attack that the Taliban said they undertook. Abdallah headed the IMF's office in Afghanistan since 2008. Following the departure of Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai in 2014, President Ashraf Ghani re-opened efforts to bring former Kabul Bank officials involved in

2625-437: The Kabul Bank scandal and its aftermath, international non-governmental organization (NGO) Transparency International raised repeated concerns about problems of corruption in Afghanistan and its impact on the economy, business investment, security and civil society. In early 2010, the Washington Post reported that the Kabul Bank played a part in "a crony capitalism that enriches politically connected insiders and dismays

2700-613: The Karzai government and to Afghanistan from the U.S. Congress, U.S. Treasury and ultimately U.S. taxpayer. The U.S. government has found anti-corruption efforts in Afghanistan in the wake of the Kabul Bank crisis as deeply troubling, including the banking sector, according to reports by the Washington Post in 2012 and SIGAR. In January 2014, the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) representative Wabel Abdallah, who assisted in

2775-637: The New Kabul Bank branch in the Paktika province , where it was the only bank in the region. That month, a suicide bomber targeted the Kabul Bank branch entrance close to the US embassy, resulting in five reported deaths. The Taliban claimed responsibility. The New Kabul Bank suffered a bank run in the leadup to the 2021 fall of Afghanistan , as panicked citizens sought to withdraw their life savings ahead of anticipated disruption under Taliban rule. Military of Afghanistan The Afghan Armed Forces , officially

2850-468: The Taliban . A new Taliban commander of the Afghan Air Force spoke as part of the announcement. According to the testimony of Guantanamo detainees before their Combatant Status Review Tribunals , the Taliban, in addition to conscripting men to serve as soldiers, also conscripted men to staff its civil service . According to a report from the University of Oxford , the Taliban made widespread use of

2925-572: The Taliban's victory in the War in Afghanistan on 15 August 2021 following the recapture of Kabul and the collapse of the U.S.-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its Afghan National Army as a whole, with the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan after being out of power for 20 years. In April 1978 there was a coup, known as the Saur Revolution , orchestrated by members of

3000-476: The Taliban. Racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive , fraudulent , extortionary , or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a " racket ") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. The term "racketeering" was coined by the Employers' Association of Chicago in June 1927 in a statement about the influence of organized crime in

3075-469: The aftermath of the Bank's crisis and scandal. In 2010, it was disclosed that its Chairman Sherkhan Farnood and other insiders were spending the bank's US$ 1 billion for their own personal lavish style living and lending money under the table to family, relatives and friends. The bank scandal also involved members of Afghan President Karzai's family, including his brother Mahmood Karzai . In September 2010, one of

New Kabul Bank - Misplaced Pages Continue

3150-449: The average number of new soldiers inducted is 120 soldiers per week not counting paramilitaries. Currently the conventional land forces of the Islamic Emirate Army are subdivided into eight corps, mostly superseding the previous corps of the former Afghan National Army. The conventional land warfare corps of the Islamic Emirate Army were renamed in November 2021 by Mullah Yaqoob , Acting Minister of Defense . They are listed below. All

3225-527: The central bank would impose stricter rules on banks wanting to handle about US$ 1.5 billion worth of salaries for government and security officials, which until now has been done by Kabul Bank. Fitrat also told Reuters the total amount of money at risk over suspected irregularities at Kabul Bank amounted to $ 579 million, almost twice the figure estimated when the bank's troubles first surfaced. Fitrat dismissed concerns that it faced liquidation , saying it would be privately owned again within three years. "Kabulbank

3300-534: The city of Kabul. By 1992 the Afghan Army fragmented into regional militias under local warlords because of the fall of the Soviet Union which stopped supplying the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan's Armed Forces and later in 1992 when the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government lost power. The fall of the Moscow-backed regime in 1992 disintegrated the state as well as the army. Bits and pieces of

3375-578: The conscription of children in 1997, 1998 and 1999. During the civil war that preceded the Taliban regime, thousands of orphaned boys joined various militia for "employment, food, shelter, protection and economic opportunity." The report said that during its initial period the Taliban "long depended upon cohorts of youth". Witnesses stated that each land-owning family had to provide one young man and $ 500 in expenses. In August of 1999, approximately 5000 students aged between 15 and 35 left madrassas in Pakistan to join

3450-766: The corps beyond Kabul can be definitively tied to previous Afghan National Army (ANA) formations. However the number '313' was not utilized by the ANA, in Kabul or beyond, and the only former Taliban unit with that number was the Badri 313 Battalion . Other reported units include the Victorious Force Unit and the Panipat unit . The Badri 313 Battalion , the Red Unit , and the " Yarmouk 60 Special Forces Battalion " may have some special forces capabilities. These are not to be confused with

3525-408: The country's first vice president. Both Farnood and Frozi were arrested in Kabul and held without charge, even though Afghanistan's attorney general said the evidence against them was "quite clear". Without a successful resolution of Kabul Bank's problems, one senior U.S. official said Afghanistan could face "the collapse of the banking sector." As of October 2011, neither man had yet been charged with

3600-612: The country, and in July 2011 both were formally arrested and detained in Kabul. DAB stated in February 2011, it would seek to sell Kabul Bank within three years once it was rehabilitated, but both the International Monetary Fund and US officials subsequently pressed for a rapid wind down of the institution. A USAID inspector general report estimated that fraudulent loans diverted $ 850 million to bank insiders. By October 2011, more than

3675-461: The court to defend themselves. Some $ 935 million of the bank assets was transferred abroad through various systems and $ 825 million are needed to bail out the bank. The Afghan government will have to pay 5–6% of its GDP to save the bank, which would be a huge blow to the country's economy. Since 2011, the Karzai Government has rejected banking oversight and reform efforts by the United States in

3750-567: The first iteration of the Emirate's armed forces in 1997 after taking over Afghanistan following the end of the Afghan Civil War which raged between 1992 and 1996 . However, the first iteration of the armed forces was dissolved in 2001 after the downfall of the first Taliban government following the United States invasion of Afghanistan . It was officially reestablished on 8 November 2021 after

3825-500: The fragmented military either disappeared or joined the warring factions that were locked in a drawn-out power struggle. The warring factions were composed of odd assortments of armed groups with varying levels of loyalties, political commitment, professional skills, and organizational integrity. After the fall of Mohammad Najibullah 's regime in 1992, the various Afghan political parties began to assemble their own more formal armed forces. By February 1992 Massoud's Jamiat-i-Islami had

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3900-538: The government loyal to the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). This led to a full-scale Soviet invasion in December 1979 by the 40th Army , plus the 103rd Guards Airborne Division . In 1981 the total strength of the Afghan Armed Forces was around 85,000 troops according to The New York Times . The Afghan Army had around 35–40,000 soldiers, mostly conscripts; the Afghan Air Force had around 7,000 personnel; and

3975-408: The government to rapidly place the lender into receivership , echoing calls made by a previous International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation. "The deputy secretary... stressed the need for the Afghan government to take swift and decisive action to ensure a credible, effective resolution of issues related to Kabul Bank," the U.S. embassy said in statement. Kabul Bank was put into receivership following

4050-419: The law to solve an actual existing problem. The traditional and historically most common example of a racket is the " protection racket ", in which racketeers offer to protect a business from robbery or vandalism; however, the racketeers will themselves coerce or threaten the business into accepting this service, often with the threat (implicit or otherwise) that failure to acquire the offered services will lead to

4125-534: The loss of nearly U.S. $ 1 billion in U.S. taxpayers' funded foreign assistance to Afghanistan in the form of U.S.-supplied Afghan government and Afghan military and police salaries deposited into Kabul Bank, The New Yorker Magazine , The Wall Street Journal , The New York Times , National Public Radio (NPR) and others, have reported that widespread corruption, ponzi schemes, fraudulent loans, mass looting, insider loans to fake and bogus companies run by family and friends, and other corrupted practices, were undertaken by

4200-495: The month, the government also froze assets held by some of Kabul Bank's owners even as the central bank governor said it was solvent and had the backing of Karzai's administration. U.S.-educated economist Hamidullah Farooqi, a former Karzai minister and chairman of the Afghanistan International Chamber of Commerce , said Afghanistan received a "massive wake-up call" from the crisis, further stating: "It's not just

4275-552: The mujahideen rebel attacks continued and grew in intensity. For several years the Afghan Armed Forces had actually increased their effectiveness past levels ever achieved during the Soviet military presence. The eleven-year Siege of Khost ended with the city's fall in March 1991. But the government was dealt a major blow when Abdul Rashid Dostum , a leading general, switched allegiances to the mujahideen forces in 1992 and together they captured

4350-467: The mujahideen, Turkey sold its World War II stockpiles, and the British and Swiss provided Blowpipe missiles and Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns respectively, after they were found to be poor models for their own forces. China provided the most relevant weapons, likely due to their own experience with guerrilla warfare , and kept meticulous record of all the shipments. Following the Soviet withdrawal in 1989

4425-457: The old regime, there is hardly any organizational or professional continuity from the past. But these units really exist in name only ... in fact only their military bases still exist, accommodating and supporting an assortment of militia groups. During the 1990s the Taliban's air force had five supersonic MiG-21MFs and 10 Sukhoi-22 fighter-bombers. They also had six Mil Mi-8 helicopters, five Mi-35s , five L-39Cs , six An-12s , 25 An-26s ,

4500-544: The political legitimacy or administrative efficiency of a state. The militia formations they command are composed of odd assortments of armed groups with varying level of loyalties, political commitment, professional skills, and organizational integrity. Many of them feel free to switch sides, shift loyalties, and join or leave the group spontaneously. The country suffers from the absence of a top political layer capable of controlling individual and group violence. ... Although both sides identify their units with military formations of

4575-448: The principal owners of the bank said that depositors had withdrawn $ 180 million in two days and predicted a "revolution" in the country's financial system unless the Afghan government and the United States moved quickly to help stabilize the bank. In November 2010, reports appeared that Farnood and chief executive Khalilullah Frozi both had been sacked from duties; as of early 2011 both were effectively under house arrest and could not leave

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4650-451: The provincial capital of Nangarhar , and at least three militants were killed, officials said. Three suicide bombers reportedly entered the bank and detonated themselves, and fighting between insurgents and security forces continued for over four hours; President Hamid Karzai and a NATO International Security Assistance Force spokesman condemned the attack, which was the deadliest in the country since June 2010. In its July 2011 review of

4725-638: The racketeers themselves contributing to the existing problem. In many cases, the potential problem may be caused by the same party that offers to solve it, but that fact may be concealed, with the intent to engender continual patronage . The protection racket is thus often a method of extortion , at least in practice. However, the definition of the term "racket" has been expanded over time and may now be used less strictly to refer to any continuous or repeated illegal organized crime operation, including those that do not necessarily involve fraudulent or coercive practices or extortion. For example, "racket" may refer to

4800-464: The removal of the Taliban government in late 2001, private armies loyal to warlords gained more and more influence. In mid-2001, Ali Jalali wrote: The army (as a state institution, organized, armed, and commanded by the state) does not exist in Afghanistan today. Neither the Taliban-led "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" nor the "Islamic State of Afghanistan" headed by the ousted President Rabbani has

4875-400: The scandal and a new bank set up, but only $ 70 million of fraudulent loans it granted have so far been recovered, with criminal investigations ongoing. In October 2011, Afghanistan's parliament approved a $ 51 million payment to DAB as part of a planned compensation package over its multi-million-dollar bailout; the payment is part of a package of government measures agreed with the IMF to secure

4950-509: The statute is sufficiently broad to encompass illegal activities relating to any enterprise affecting interstate or foreign commerce . 18 U.S.C.   § 1961 (10) provides that the Attorney General of the United States may designate any department or agency to conduct investigations authorized by the RICO statute and such department or agency may use the investigative provisions of

5025-466: The statute or the investigative power of such department or agency otherwise conferred by law. Absent a specific designation by the Attorney General, jurisdiction to conduct investigations for violations of 18 U.S.C.   § 1962 lies with the agency having jurisdiction over the violations constituting the pattern of racketeering activity listed in 18 U.S.C.   § 1961 . In

5100-659: The total of all military personnel was around 87,000 in 1984. Throughout the 1980s, the Afghan Armed Forces was heavily involved in fighting against the mujahideen rebel groups who were largely backed by the United States and trained by the Pakistan Armed Forces . The rebel groups were fighting to force the Soviet Union to withdraw from Afghanistan as well as to remove the Soviet-backed government of President Mohammad Najibullah . Due to large number of defectors,

5175-420: The various armed movements there that had squabbled since the dissolution of the previous Afghan Army and Afghan Air Force . They moved to confront Ahmed Shah Massoud 's forces by marching to the gates of Kabul in March 1995. During the 1990s the Taliban maintained 400 T-54/55 and T-62 tanks and more than 200 armoured personnel carriers. The Taliban also began training its own army and commanders. After

5250-591: The wake of the Kabul Bank scandal and collapse according to reports by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) in 2013–14. Banking experts, economists and humanitarian aid officials have expressed serious concern about this development given Kabul Bank's large and historic dependence on U.S. taxpayers' funding of bank deposits via payments of the Afghan National Army soldiers, police and Afghanistan's civil service employees who are largely paid with billions of dollars in U.S. aid to

5325-405: The weapons that were not damaged during the decades of wars are still being used today. Weapons supplies were made available to the mujahideen rebel groups through numerous countries; the United States purchased all of Israel's captured Soviet weapons clandestinely, and then funnelled the weapons to the mujahideen rebels, while Egypt upgraded their own Army's weapons, and sent the older weapons to

5400-486: Was badly shaken and almost collapsed in 2011, in one of "the worst banking scandals in history", according to The Guardian newspaper. In late 2012, according to the Los Angeles Times , independent investigators and journalists uncovered widespread corruption in Kabul Bank. The New York Times , in 2012, headlines indicate "Audit Says Kabul Bank Began as 'Ponzi Scheme'" following investigation and judicial action in

5475-457: Was less concern about these as traditional interceptors as there was about them eventually being loaded with explosives and used to suicide bomb American encampments. After the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul during the 2021 Taliban offensive , the Taliban established the Air Force of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan . This was also referred to as

5550-638: Was on the brink of collapse and mobs of customers massed outside of bank locations trying to get their deposits out of the bank with limited luck. Despite Kabul Bank's near collapse in 2010 during the corruption allegations, Kabul Bank claims it is significant to Afghanistan's internal security and stability because it is the vehicle used to pay, largely with money supplied by the United States government, as many as 300,000 Afghan government employees, mostly military and police, who are key to plans to rebuild Afghanistan's capacity to deal with its ongoing Taliban -led insurgency. President Karzai's brother, Mahmood Karzai,

5625-564: Was sentenced to prison. In September 2010, the Afghan Central Bank said it was prepared to provide loans to the Kabul Bank, "if it requests". After the bailout by the government, by 2015, authorities were inviting bids to privatize the new bank. In 2016, Afghanistan's Joint-Stock Company offered to buy New Kabul Bank for $ 31 million. Pakistan 's MCB Bank also made a bid, as New Kabul Bank was to be privatized in October 2018. In April 2015,

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