PESHAWAR, Oct 20: Campaigns for recruiting volunteers and collecting donation for the Taliban are in full swing in the NWFP as well as the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas.

The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam claims that hundreds of thousands of people have already volunteered to fight against US ground forces in Afghanistan.

Donation is being collected for helping destitute Afghans.

Activists of the JUI, JI and Afghanistan Defence Council have occupied footpaths and street corners where they exhort people to go for Jihad and give donation for needy Afghans. Announcements in this regard are also made over loudspeakers from mosques and camps set up on highways.

A JUI (F) leader told this scribe that they were receiving donation in cash and kind, and added that women were handing over their jewellery for the Afghan cause. Tribesmen, he said, were more generous as the party had received more than Rs 3 million from them in cash, besides a huge quantity of relief goods.

In Bajaur Agency, according to reports, tribesmen have donated 40 kg gold, 66 kg silver and 2,538 watches.

The JUI (F), a staunch supporter of the Taliban, has established about 1,000 camps in tribal areas and in 24 districts of the province, where party workers are busy recruiting volunteers for Jihad and collecting donation.

The Jamaat-i-Islami’s Al-Khidmat group has established special camps to extend help to Afghans. The latter has empowered all district organizers to run the donation collecting campaign.

Religious parties deny reports about the misuse of donations. “Our system is transparent and there is no chance of any misuse of money given by people ,” JI provincial secretary, finance, claimed.

Information gathered by Dawn reveals that JUI (F) is receiving a remarkable response in southern districts of the Frontier province and in North and South Waziristan Agencies, from where thousands of volunteers have gone to Afghanistan to fight against US forces.

Provincial deputy general secretary of JUI(F) Haji Jalil Jan said that the party had prepared lists of volunteers at district level and also in Fata. He said the Taliban government had advised the party leadership not to send more volunteers to Afghanistan unless the US landed its ground forces in the country.

Official agencies say they are not aware of any campaign launched by religious parties to send volunteers to Afghanistan.