US Treasury targets money exchanges, owners, for funding Taliban

Yesterday the US Treasury Department added two Afghan money exchanges, the Haji Khairullah Haji Sattar Money Exchange (HKHS) and the Roshan Money Exchange (RMX), and the owners of HKHS, Haji Abdul Sattar Barakzai and Haji Khairullah Barakzai, to the terrorism sanctions list for supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Sattar and Khairullah have been added “for donating money and providing financial services to the Taliban,” according to the Treasury press release. “Both HKHS and RMX operate as hawalas [money transfer compnaies] and have been used by the Taliban to facilitate money transfers in support of the Taliban’s narcotics trade and terrorist operations.” The full description of the designations of Sattar and Khairullah, and HKHS and RMX, is reproduced below. Both HKHS and RMX operate both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while the primary addresses for Sattar and Khairullah are listed as being in Pashtunabad in Quetta, Pakistan.

The US has previously designated several Pakistan-based “businessmen” who have funneled cash and other aid to the Taliban. See LWJ reports, US designates 2 Pakistanis for running al Qaeda and Taliban charitable front groups, and US adds 5 al Qaeda, Taliban, Haqqani Network, and IMU facilitators to terrorist list for examples.

Treasury designations for the Haji Khairullah Haji Sattar Money Exchange (HKHS), the Roshan Money Exchange (RMX), Haji Abdul Sattar Barakzai, and Haji Khairullah Barakzai:

Haji Abdul Sattar Barakzai

Haji Abdul Sattar Barakzai is being designated today for owning, or controlling HKHS, and for providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial, or other services to, or in support of, the Taliban. Sattar is a co-owner and operator of HKHS. Sattar and Khairullah have co-owned and jointly operated hawalas known as HKHS throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Dubai and managed an HKHS branch in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. As of late 2009, Sattar and Khairullah had an equal partnership in HKHS. Sattar founded HKHS and customers chose to use HKHS in part because of Sattar’s and Khairullah’s well-known names.

Sattar has donated thousands of dollars to the Taliban to support Taliban activities in Afghanistan and has distributed funds to the Taliban using his hawala. As of 2010, Sattar provided financial assistance to the Taliban. As of late 2009, Sattar provided tens of thousands of dollars to aid the Taliban’s fight against Coalition Forces in Marjah, Nad’Ali District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, and helped to transport a Taliban member to Marjah. As of 2008, Sattar and Khairullah collected money from businessmen and distributed the funds to the Taliban using their hawala.

Haji Khairullah Barakzai

Haji Khairullah Barakzai is being designated today for owning or controlling HKHS, and for providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial, or other services to, or in support of, the Taliban. Khairullah is a co-owner and operator of HKHS. As of late 2009, Khairullah and Sattar had an equal partnership in HKHS. They jointly operated hawalas known as HKHS throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Dubai and managed an HKHS branch in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. As of early 2010, Khairullah was the head of the HKHS branch in Kabul.

As of 2010, Khairullah was a hawaladar, or hawala operator, for Taliban senior leadership and provided financial assistance to the Taliban. Khairullah, along with his business partner Sattar, provided thousands of dollars to the Taliban to support Taliban activities in Afghanistan. As of 2008, Khairullah and Sattar collected money from businessmen and distributed the funds to the Taliban using their hawala.

Haji Khairullah Haji Sattar Money Exchange (HKHS)

Haji Khairullah Haji Sattar Money Exchange (HKHS) is being designated today for providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to, or in support of, the Taliban. HKHS is co-owned by Haji Abdul Sattar Barakzai and Haji Khairullah Barakzai. Sattar and Khairullah have jointly operated money exchanges throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Taliban leaders have used HKHS to disseminate money to Taliban shadow governors and commanders and to receive hawala transfers for the Taliban.

As of 2011, HKHS was a preferred method for Taliban leadership to transfer money to Taliban commanders in Afghanistan. In late 2011, the HKHS branch in Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan was used to send money to the Taliban shadow governor for Helmand Province. In mid-2011, a Taliban commander used an HKHS branch in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region to fund fighters and operations in Afghanistan. After the Taliban deposited a significant amount of cash monthly with this HKHS branch, Taliban commanders could access the funds from any HKHS branch. Taliban personnel used HKHS in 2010 to transfer money to hawalas in Afghanistan, where operational commanders could access the funds. As of late 2009, the manager of the HKHS branch in Lashkar Gah oversaw the movement of Taliban funds through HKHS.

Roshan Money Exchange

Roshan Money Exchange (RMX) is being designated today for providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial, or other services to, or in support of, the Taliban. RMX stores and transfers funds in support of Taliban military operations and the Taliban’s role in the Afghan narcotics trade. As of 2011, RMX was one of the primary hawalas used by Taliban officials in Helmand Province.

In 2011, a senior Taliban member withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars from an RMX branch in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region to distribute to Taliban shadow provincial governors. To fund the Taliban’s spring offensive in 2011, the Taliban shadow governor of Helmand Province sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to RMX. Also in 2011, a Taliban member received tens of thousands of dollars from RMX to support military operations. An RMX branch in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region also held tens of thousands of dollars to be collected by a Taliban commander. In 2010, on behalf of the Taliban shadow governor of Helmand Province, a Taliban member used RMX to send thousands of dollars to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.

The RMX branch in Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, has been used by the Taliban to transfer funds for operations to Helmand Province. In 2011, a Taliban sub-commander transferred tens of thousands of dollars to a Taliban commander through the RMX branch in Lashkar Gah. The Taliban also sent funds to the RMX branch in Lashkar Gah for distribution to Taliban commanders in 2010. Also in 2010, a Taliban member used RMX to send tens of thousands of dollars to Helmand Province and Herat Province, Afghanistan, on behalf of the Taliban shadow governor of Helmand Province.

In 2009, a senior Taliban representative collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from an RMX branch in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region to finance Taliban military operations in Afghanistan. In 2008, a Taliban leader used RMX to transfer tens of thousands of dollars to Afghanistan.

The Taliban also uses RMX to facilitate its role in the Afghan narcotics trade. As of 2011, Taliban officials, including the shadow governor of Helmand Province, transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars from an RMX branch in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region to hawalas in Afghanistan for the purchase of narcotics on behalf of Taliban officials. Also in 2011, a Taliban official directed Taliban commanders in Helmand Province to transfer opium proceeds through RMX. One Taliban district chief transferred thousands of dollars from Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan to an RMX branch in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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Tags: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Taliban