Wilshire
Although the mujahideen were aided by the Pakistani, American, British, Chinese and Saudi governments, the mujahideen’s primary source of funding was private donors and religious charities throughout the Muslim world—particularly in the Persian Gulf. Jason Burke recounts that “as little as 25% of the money for the Afghan jihad was actually supplied directly by states.”
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Foreign donations: The Taliban receive financial aid from certain countries, such as Pakistan, Iran and Russia, as well as private citizens from Pakistan and several Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar¹²⁴. This may account for a significant proportion of their revenue, possibly up to $500 million a year¹.
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Drug trade: Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of opium, which can be refined to make heroin. The Taliban tax every stage of the drug production and smuggling process, from poppy farmers to traders¹²³. This is one of their main income sources, generating between $100 million and $400 million a year¹.
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Mining and trading minerals: The Taliban exploit the rich mineral resources of Afghanistan, such as copper, gold, iron, coal and gemstones. They extract and sell these minerals to local and foreign buyers, often through illegal channels¹²⁵. This may bring them another $100 million to $400 million a year¹.
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Taxation and extortion: The Taliban impose various taxes on the people and businesses in the areas they control, such as a 10% cultivation tax on opium farmers, a 2.5% wealth tax (zakat), and a 10% tax on harvests (ushr)¹²⁵. They also extort money from development and infrastructure projects, as well as from transport and telecommunication companies¹²⁵. This could add another $300 million to $500 million a year to their coffers¹…
Source: Conversation with Bing, 12/26/202 3 (1) Afghanistan: How do the Taliban make money? - BBC.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-46554097.
(2) Who funds the Taliban? Where the Afghanistan militants’ funding comes …
(3) Taliban - Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban.
(4) Who are the Taliban funded by? Inside its £1 billion fortune.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1477515/Taliban-funding-income-arms-Afghanistan-latest-evg.
(5) How is the Taliban funded: Where do the militant group get money and …
https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/taliban-where-weapons-money-funds-b1911655.html.
(6) en.wikipedia.org.
Cats are just doing what they evolved to do, murder everything.
Thank you! It’s nice to see my favorite communities join Lemmy. I’ve been using Reddit less and less.