Title: Afghanistan: How does the Taliban make money? - BBC News
Headings: Afghanistan: How does the Taliban make money?
Afghanistan: How does the Taliban make money?
There are indications that the US is planning a significant withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan.
How wealthy is the Taliban?
Opium, taxes and extortion
Bombing the labs
Expanding areas of control
Mines and minerals
Foreign funding
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Content: A snapshot of the Taliban operation in eastern Nangarhar province sheds a light on how they operate. The governor of the province told the BBC that around half the revenue from mining in his region goes to either the Taliban or the Islamic State group. He estimated that they take up to $500 from each of the hundreds of mineral trucks leaving the province daily. According to the Taliban, local traders and Afghan government officials we spoke to, the Taliban now receives more than $50m annually in revenue from mining all over the country. image caption
Lapis stones, mined in Afghanistan, for sale in Kabul
Foreign funding
Several Afghan and US officials have long accused several regional governments including Pakistan, Iran and Russia of giving financial aid to the Afghan Taliban, a practice they frequently deny. Private citizens from Pakistan and several Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are considered the largest individual contributors. Although impossible to measure, these sources of funding clearly provide a significant proportion of the Taliban's revenue, and according to experts and officials could be as much as $500m a year. These links are long-standing. A classified CIA report estimated in 2008 that the Taliban had received $106m, from foreign sources, in particular from the Gulf states. Read more from Reality Check
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