Kam Air rejects 'baseless' US drug smuggling charges

Afghanistan's largest private airline Kam Air hit back Saturday at allegations it was involved in drug smuggling, threatening to seek compensation if the charges levelled against it by the US are proven false.

The US military barred Kam Air from its list of potential contractors after accusing it of transporting large amounts of opium into neighbouring Tajikistan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The impoverished Central Asian country is regarded as a key transit route used by drug smugglers.

"This a baseless, unbelievable and insulting allegation," said Zamari Kamgar, who owns the 16-plane fleet airline, in an interview with AFP on Saturday.

"There are more than ten security teams operating inside Kabul airport, leave alone the strict security measures in Tajik airports."

The allegations by US military officials state that Kam Air ferried "bulk" quantities of opium -- the key ingredient in heroin -- on civilian flights, the paper said.

A spokesman for ISAF, Nato's armed force in Afghanistan, confirmed the report but declined to provide further details.

The US found discovered the alleged drug smuggling when it started scrutinising Kam Air after the airline sought a US contract, Richard Longo, the commander of Task Force 2010, a coalition anticorruption unit, told to the WSJ.

"These allegations have hurt the prestige of Kam Air as the best and most reliable Afghan private airline, we will demand clarification and compensation if the charges brought against us are not proved," said Kamgar.

"We believe ISAF and others may have been misled and misinformed by the reportings of some of our rivals," he said, suggesting that the claims may have originated from his competitor for US military contracts.

Afghanistan produces about 90 percent of the world's opium and last year the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned that opium cultivation in the country had increased by 18 percent.

Poppy farmers are taxed by Taliban militants who use the cash to help fund their insurgency against the government and NATO forces, UNODC said.

The poppies, which provide rich pickings in one of the world's poorest countries, also play a large part in the corruption that plagues Afghan life at every level, from district to national government.