The Taliban says it will destroy the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline if any US companies are involved in the deal.
According to the Daily Times, Mufti Latifullah Hakimi, a representative of the Taliban issued the threat, which was reported by Radio Moscow.
Earlier, in May 2004, the Presidents of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan signed an agreement to build a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan, and the Minister of Oil in Afghanistan said that there was a good chance that the US company UNOCAL (formerly Union Oil Company of California) would obtain the contract to exploit the pipeline.
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Nathan Hamm – author of 2040 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan founded Registan.net in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural factors shape risks and opportunities. Follow him on Twitter or drop him a line.