A member of the Afghan parliament from Helmand Province and local residents have confirmed to Sputnik Afghanistan that the US military could be smuggling uranium out of the village of Khanashin in the country's southern province of Helmand, as well as other rare elements and natural resources.
[...]
The deputies of the lower chamber of the country's parliament, the Wolesi Jirga, or the House of the People, from the province of Helmand, have repeatedly said that much evidence exists that uranium from Khanashin is being smuggled out in US cargo planes, Sputnik Afghanistan quotes local media reports as saying.
[...]
The deputies said that the US military have set up their military base near the uranium mines and smuggle uranium through it.
The deputies said that since the US military intervention back in 2001, the Americans and their British allies have concentrated their bases in this particular province as the largest uranium resources are concentrated there, as well as the largest poppy plantations, the main source for opium trafficking.
[...]
"The Americans and the British have been working there. Nobody knew what they are doing there. They have come under the pretext of safeguarding and counterterrorism (Afghanistan is defined as a state sponsor of terrorism), however it got only worse. We think that they have been mining uranium and have been smuggling it out," he told Sputnik.
[...]
"They justify their presence with security reasons, however what they are doing is robbery and theft," the residents concluded.
