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Afghan officials say Iranian mines found in western province

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KABUL: Afghan authorities say they have discovered a weapons cache containing 130 different types of mines that appear to have been imported from Iran.

The cache includes about 40 sophisticated remote-controlled mines. It was discovered in the Anardar district of Farah Province near the Iranian border.

Farah’s provincial police chief, General Khail Shairbaz, told RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan on January 25 that the cache was found in the house of a Taliban commander named Mullah Abdul Ghani. He says the mines were brought recently to the province.

In the past, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said there is no evidence confirming Iranian government involvement in smuggling weapons to the Taliban. He has said the Taliban could be using funds from the opium trade to purchase weapons from criminal groups. But Gates says Washington suspects Tehran’s involvement.

Iran’s government denies sending any weapons to the Taliban.

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