UK Court Hears Ex-Soldier Muhammed Choudhary Sent Night Vision Rifle Optics to Taliban

A former British Army soldier had admitted terrorism charges laid against him over fundraising and equipment meant for the Taliban.

41-year-0ld Muhammed Choudhary has admitted three counts of terror-related charges at a UK court over his fundraising and donation efforts a court heard were to benefit the Taliban in Afghanistan. A court report by The Daily Telegraph says the former British Army soldier, who at the time of his arrest in 2020 was working in the UK’s state National Health Service (NHS) stood accused of “providing money knowing or having reasonable cause to suspect that it would or might be used for the purposes of terrorism” between 2017 and 2019.

Choudhary is said to have attempted to ship 12 night-vision rifle scopes to Pakistan, from where they were to be smuggled onwards to Afghanistan. The attempt failed because the equipment was intercepted at the British border by customs. The court also heard how Choudhary had been in contact with Taliban-linked individuals and had boasted of his experience with firearms as a former soldier.

The scopes, which were bought from legitimate UK businesses and shipped with falsified export information in a bid to get them to Pakistan were said to have been worth over £31,000 ($40,000).

The prosecutor is reported to have said: “he exported or tried to export the relevant scopes knowing that he was prohibited from doing so, and that he mis-described the contents of the packages containing the scopes in order to increase the likelihood of export.

“As a former British soldier he was well aware of the capabilities of the scopes, and the purpose to which they were to be deployed.”

Choudhary faces 14 years in prison if convicted.