RASC News Agency: Zakiya Wardak, the Taliban’s Consul General in Mumbai, India, and the mother of Mariam Wardak, a former advisor to Hanif Atmar and a Western-aligned lobbyist for the Taliban group, was apprehended at Mumbai airport with 25kg of smuggled gold.
The Times of India reported on Friday, May 3, that Zakiya Wardak intended to smuggle the gold from Dubai to India. According to the Times of India, Zakiya Wardak utilized her Afghan diplomatic passport to facilitate the gold smuggling.
Meanwhile, Wardak, in an interview with the Times of India, expressed surprise and concern about the “allegation” as she is currently receiving medical treatment. The Times of India reported that the Taliban diplomat, along with her son, attempted to smuggle the gold on an Emirates flight from Dubai.
Zakiya Wardak was appointed to her position in Mumbai by Ashraf Ghani but is noted as the first “female diplomat” who pledged allegiance to the Taliban and began working with the group’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
