Fighters with Afghanistan's Taliban militia stand with their weapons in Ahmad Aba district on the outskirts of Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, on July 18, 2017.

U.K. security giant G4S and South African telecoms provider MTN are among six multinational corporations named in a U.S. lawsuit over alleged "protection payments" to terrorists in Afghanistan.

A complaint under the Anti-Terrorism Act was filed in a federal court in Washington D.C. on December 27 on behalf of 385 claimants, comprising U.S. military and civilian personnel injured or killed in terrorist attacks in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2017, and their loved ones. The plaintiffs span more than 100 service members killed and wounded during the period.

The complaint, filed by law firms Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick PLLC, Sparacino PLLC and Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP alleges that G4S Holdings International and its subsidiaries, MTN and four American corporations provided funding for the Taliban, Haqqani Network, Pakistani Taliban and their allies. All of these entities were part of an Al-Qaeda led terrorist syndicate, according to the filing.

The complaint alleges that the corporations either directly made, or turned a blind eye to, 'protection payments' to the terrorist organizations in order to preserve their business in Afghanistan and divert attacks away from their own business interests.