The Taliban recently took over Afghanistan after being away for 20 years. The militant group didn’t even take 2 weeks to capture most of Afghan cities, including Kabul.
20 years of the US military presence and NATO did not deter the Taliban. Instead its power – military and financial – only grew.
The Taliban apparently has a whopping $1.6 billion war chest to fund its fight in Afghanistan, with millions coming in from drugs, donations and real estate.
Mullah Yaqoob, son of late Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, once revealed that the group’s total earnings in the financial year 2019-20 was $1.6 billion.
Almost 25% of its funds allegedly come from the illicit drug trade. Afghanistan produces opium in large quantities and accounted for 84% of global opium production over the five years ending in 2020. Taliban apparently imposes a 10% tax on every link in the drug production chain.
That includes the Afghan farmers who cultivate poppy, the main ingredient in opium, the labs that convert it into a drug and the traders who move the final product out of country.
According to Taliban finance expert Hanif Sufizada, this is how the opium trade benefits the Taliban.
That includes the Afghan farmers who cultivate poppy, the main ingredient in opium, the labs that convert it into a drug and the traders who move the final product out of country.
Mining is yet another major contributor to their income. Mining companies around the world apparently pay taxes to the Taliban to survive in the market.
A large part of Taliban donations allegedly come from charities and private trusts located in Persian Gulf countries and are on the US Treasury Department’s list of groups that finance terrorism. The group also receives support from private players in Pakistan and UAE.
Private citizens from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran and some Persian Gulf nations also help finance the Taliban, contributing another $60 million annually to the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network.
So now you know where all that money comes from.