Amina Bibi and Alam Zeb Khan, accused by the US of conspiring to provide material support to the Taliban, talk to reporters here on Sunday. – Dawn

MINGORA: Three Pakistani nationals, including a woman, who have been Indicted by the US government along with three American citizens of Pakistani origin for providing support to Taliban, have denied the charge and said the money sent to them from the US was meant for a small seminary and not for militants.

Two of the three accused, Amina Bibi and her son Alam Zeb Khan, hail from Sarsai Galoch area of Swat’s Kabal tehsil. They told reporters here on Sunday that they and their three relatives arrested in the United States were innocent and had been falsely implicated in the case.

The six have been charged with conspiring to provide, and providing, material support to a conspiracy to murder, maim and kidnap persons overseas, as well as conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, the Pakistani Taliban.

The charges were announced on Saturday by officials of the Miami filed office of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Attorney Office.

Hafiz Mohammed Sher Ali Khan, 76, and his son Irfan Khan, 37, residents of Miami; and another of his sons, Izhar Khan, 24, of North Lauderdale, are the US citizens who have been arrested.

The accused residing in Pakistan are Faisal Ali Rehman, Alam Zeb and Amina Bibi, 39, daughter of Sher Ali.

The woman said they had been running the seminary for girls only to impart knowledge.

She said her father had set up the ‘Akhyaul Uloom’ seminary around 30 years ago in a local mosque.

She said her father sent some money five years ago and a five-room building for the seminary was built. There are five women teachers and about 50 girl students aged 12 to 15 years.

Her son Alam Zeb, 19, a student of grade 11, said that Faisal Rehman was a shopkeeper to whom his grandfather sent money because “we had no bank account”.

He said the money was sent for payment of teachers’ salary and utility bills.

He said some amount had also been sent by his father for a poor woman relative to help her build a house and meet other needs. His father Shahzeb also works in the US.