Explained | Where does Taliban get its money from? – Deccan Herald

Taliban's swift takeover of Afghanistan last week has shown that they do not lack the military prowess required to not only stay in power but also to defeat the Afghan soldiers on whom the US has spent close to $80 billion.

So only one question arises, how is it that the Taliban can fund itself and its military weapons? And how have they funded themselves over this two-decade-long war with the US?

When the Taliban was ousted in November 2001, they were merely a seven-year-old organisation. However, over the last two decades, they have grown in military prowess, numbers, and funding.

Drug Trade

As per a report by Indian Express, the primary source of the Taliban's funding has been their drug trade. As per a May 2020 report of the United Nations Security Council,Taliban annual combined revenues range from $300 million to upwards of $1.5 billion per annum.

In recent years their funding has suffered becauseof the reduction in poppy cultivation and revenue, less taxable income from aid and development projects, and increased spending on 'governance'projects, the UNSC report further added.

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However it also stated that for the longest time, heroin cultivation provided the Taliban's funding,but the emergence of methamphetamine in Afghanistan is giving impetus to a major new drug industry, and the latter is expected to be more profitable because of its low costs of ingredients.

Alongside that, drug smuggling and taxation have also added to the Taliban's coffers.

As per the UNSC report, the Taliban take a certain amount of money per kilogram of heroin, and this process repeats in all districts that they have control over. It is smuggling routes, Afghan officials believe, that have empowered each Taliban commander.

Illegal mining, donations

Besides the drug trade, there are other avenues that the Taliban use for funding. Indian Express reports that there is a confidential report commissioned by NATO that states that the terrorist organisation is close to achieving or has achieved financial independence to fund its own insurgency.

The report stated that Taliban earneda staggering $1.6 billion in the year ending March 2020. Breaking down these costs, it stated that,$416 million came from the drug trade; over $450 million from the illegal mining of iron ore, marble, copper, gold, zinc, and rare earth metals; and $160 million from extortion and taxes in the areas and on the highways it controlled.

Other than this, Persian Gulf nations donated$240 million in donations, largely from Persian Gulf nations.

"To launder the money it earned, it imported and exported consumer goods worth $240 million. The Taliban also own properties worth $80 million in Afghanistan and Pakistan,"the report said.

US weapons, donations from Pakistan

While it is widely known that Taliban gets support from Pakistan, that is not how they source their arms and ammunitions. According to Indian Express, ISI and Pakistani army provide support to the Taliban. This is done directly and also through the Haqqani network, which is an Islamist Mafia operating in Pakistan.

It is also believed that Iran provides weapons and support to Taliban. The US has also accused Russia of helping Taliban, but that has not been verified.

Beyond these external avenues, the Taliban has also been able to arm itself with the weapons and ammunition that the US has provided to the Afghan forces over the years.

On August 17, two days after the Taliban took control of Kabul, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said, We dont have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defence materials has gone but certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban.

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Explained | Where does Taliban get its money from? - Deccan Herald