KABUL - The United Nations fired three officials running its $1.4 billion Afghanistan police trust fund as the first step in what is expected to be a broader shake-up at the program currently facing an internal investigation of mismanagement, according to UN and Western officials.
Among those removed from their posts, Western officials said, were the trust fund's deputy project manager and its finance officer. A fund administrator also was fired. All those former UN staffers are Afghan citizens.
However, a United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) spokesman Farhad Zulamai said his organization did not officially receive any information about termination of personnel adding any kind of corruption is intolerable within the United Nations organizations.

"We were not officially or unofficially informed of the issue. We have zero tolerance of any kind of corruption."

Problems with the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA) became public last month, when The Wall Street Journal reported that international donors were concerned about possible abuses at the fund. The trust fund's main contributors are the US, the European Union and Japan.

The Afghan Ministry of or Interiors however praised the issue but said that the fund is crucial of training and equipping Afghan National Police.

"The financial aide through this trust fund is effective for the improvement of Afghan police. Any kind of action which improves the reliability and continuation of the fund is welcomed." Sediq Sediqi, a spokesman for Afghan Ministry of Interior told TOLO news.

Earlier this month, the European Union vowed to withhold US $37 million until the UN examined the allegations of abuses at LOTFA and came up with better controls. (Tolo News)