Families of US Troops Sue Contractors for Allegedly Paying Taliban for Protection

U.S. soldiers inspect the scene of a suicide attack outside a base in Zhari district, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on Jan. 20, 2014. Javed Tanveer/AFP/Getty Images

The families of nearly 150 U.S. soldiers and contractors who were killed or wounded in Afghanistan sued American and international contractors for allegedly paying protection money to the Taliban and indirectly supporting the terrorist group.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Friday, the plaintiffs alleged that the contractors working on various reconstruction projects across the war-torn country often greased the palms of the Taliban through local sub-contractors, reported the Wall Street Journal.