Washington – U.S. forces recently intercepted Iranian- made weapons intended for Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, the Pentagon’s top general said Tuesday, suggesting wider Iranian war involvement in the region.
It appeared to be the first publicly disclosed instance of Iranian arms entering Afghanistan, although it was not immediately clear whether the weapons came directly from Iran or were shipped through a third party.
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that unlike in Iraq, where U.S. officials say they are certain that arms are being supplied to insurgents by Iran’s secretive Quds Force, the Iranian link in Afghanistan is murky.
“It is not as clear in Afghanistan which Iranian entity is responsible, but we have intercepted weapons in Afghanistan headed for the Taliban that were made in Iran,” Pace told a group of reporters over breakfast.
He said the weapons, including mortars and C-4 plastic explosives, were intercepted in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan within the past month.
He did not describe the quantity of intercepted materials or say whether it was the first time American forces had found Iranian-made arms in that country.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan, a powerful remote-controlled bomb destroyed a U.N. vehicle, killing four Nepalese guards and an Afghan driver, officials said.
The attack on a three-vehicle U.N. convoy in Kandahar was the bloodiest in Afghanistan for the world body since the hard- line militia’s 2001 ouster and illustrated how violence continues to impede much-needed reconstruction.
The convoy was driving along the side of a canal in Kandahar when unidentified assailants detonated the charge.
It struck a gray sport utility vehicle, killing the four guards and their driver, police and the U.N. said.
An Associated Press reporter saw two charred bodies lying on the road near the destroyed vehicle.
The explosion blew off two of the car’s doors and gouged a crater in the road.
“Intentional attacks on civilians are a clear violation of international humanitarian law and the U.N. will be pursuing full accountability for those who are behind this,” a U.N. statement said.
While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, the attack came a day after a Human Rights Watch report accused Taliban militants of committing war crimes by targeting civilians.
The rights group said nearly 700 Afghan civilians were killed by militants in 2006 – more than three times the civilian deaths attributed to U.S. and NATO forces, which have been criticized for using excessive force in civilian areas.
