Who funds the Taliban in Afghanistan – and where the group’s weapons come from – iNews

The Talibanhas risen to power in Afghanistanfor a second time almost exactly 20 years since it was ousted from the country.

Its rapid campaign has sparked alarm in the Westandwidespread fear from Afghansatthe prospect of a return to the groups brutal previous regime.

Officialsdeclared a new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistanafter seizing Kabul on 15 August,the culmination of a lightning advance in the wake ofthe US withdrawal troops from the country.

The Talibans financial independence essentially means it can fund its own uprising without requiring the backing of a foreign power heres where the groups money comes from.

The Taliban funds itself largely through the opium trade,with Afghanistan supplying the vast majority of illicit heroin across the globe.

Insurgents impose a tax at every stage of the drug production process, from poppy farmers to traders who transport the heroin to neighbouring countries.

Experts have expressed fears that opium production in Afghanistan is set to soar amid economic and political insecurity in the country, meaning hat cheap heroin could flood the streets of European towns and cities.

Even before its military success this year, some had described the militant group as the worlds biggest drug cartel.

Cesar Guedes-Ferreyros, the Kabul representative for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said that Afghanistan supplies at least 85 per cent of the worlds heroin and 90 per cent of the narcotic injected by UK users.

With the Taliban having gained complete control of the opium producing areas in the south and east of the country, experts expect the militants to ramp up production.

The group also makes money through illegal mining and trading minerals. According to a confidential report commissioned by Nato and obtained byRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the group earned $1.6bn (1.15bn) in the financial year ending March 2020.

That financial independence enables the Afghan Taliban to self-fund its insurgency without the need for support from governments or citizens of other countries, the report states.

The Taliban also taxes local industries and impose the Islamic taxes ushr, a10 per cent tax on the harvests of irrigated land and 10 per cent tax on harvest from rain-watered land and 5 per cent on land dependent on well water, and zakat, a 2.5 per cent wealth tax.

Much of the Talibans weaponary comes fom groups or states sympathetic to the groups cause, with the US perviously accusing Russia of supplying the militants.

However, it has also benefited from billions of dollars worth of US investment in Afghan security forces, having captured an array of modern weapons and military equipment.

The extremist group seized firepower including guns, ammunition and helicopters as they overran Afghan forces trying to defend districts, cities and military bases as they headed towards Kabul.

Over 20 years of military occupation, which saw an Afghan government installed in the country, the US spent $83 billion (around 60m) on Afghan security forces.

But despite outnumbering Taliban insurgents who had less sophisticated weaponry and no air power some chose to surrender equipment rather than fight, with critics saying President Bidens withdrawal of troops set the final collapse in motion.

The problem of the US withdrawal is that it sent a nationwide signal that the jig is up, Stephen Biddle, a Columbia University professor and former adviser to US commanders in Afghanistan, told the AP news agency.

Taliban fighters have also been stripping civilians in the country of their own weapons, with a spokesperson claiming they no longer need them.

We understand people kept weapons for personal safety. They can now feel safe. We are not here to harm innocent civilians, the spokesperson said on Monday.

Visit link:

Who funds the Taliban in Afghanistan - and where the group's weapons come from - iNews