Talibans raised USD 400 millions in 2011

Taliban raised about USD 400 million last year through donations, taxes on Afghanistan's poppy cultivation and extortion from narcotics dealers and construction companies, a UN report has said.

A team of UN Sanctions experts said in its report to the UN Security Council that the Taliban raised USD 400 million in the year that ended in March 2012.

Of this money, about USD 275 million went to Taliban leadership while USD 125 million was collected, spent or misappropriated at the local level.

The main source of revenue for the militant group has been donations as well as extortion money collected from drug traffickers and the billions pumped into Afghanistan for development projects.

‘The team understands Taliban funding as follows: revenue raised from taxing the local economy serves primarily to support local operations and is only in a few cases channeled upwards,’ the report said.

‘Revenue extorted from enterprises such as narcotics producers and traffickers, mobile telephone operators, mining companies and aid and development projects goes to the Taliban Financial Commission.