The Taliban are drug dealers and use opium to finance their campaigns. That’s what most people assume. But a new study suggests that they get most of their money differently: taxes, toll stations and import duties fill their coffers.
The international airlift to Afghanistan is over, the remaining people are on their own. From now on you have to see how they come to terms with the Taliban and the strict Islamic rules. Conversely, the radical Islamic militia is also faced with a huge problem: when they came to power, practically all sources of money in the poor country collapsed overnight.
So far, Afghanistan has every year four billion dollars Get development aid from abroad. The USA, Germany, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other states and organizations have up to 75 percent of government expenditure covered. Can the Taliban find this money in other ways?
Florian Weigand, Taliban expert from the London think tank ODI, is skeptical that the militia has already given this issue some thought. In the last few months and years, their focus has been “primarily military,” he says in the ntv podcast, “Another thing learned”. “I don’t think the Taliban have a clearly defined vision of what the future looks like in Afghanistan. Neither politically nor economically.”
“Drugs play a comparatively minor role”
The militia would need a vision, however, because the economic situation in the desperately poor country is dire. Afghanistan has almost 40 million inhabitants, but the economic output is only 19 billion dollars a year. After the Taliban came to power, money became even scarcer: many countries, including Germany, announced their aid payments after the campaign of conquest for the time being adjust. The country’s multi-billion dollar reserves are mainly stored in the United States – and have been confiscated by the US government.
Florian Weigand has visited Afghanistan several times. He is co-director of the Center for the Study of Armed Groups at the ODI.
Famines? A humanitarian disaster? Chaos? Anything is possible, says Taliban expert Weigand. But maybe the big crash won’t happen. Two colleagues of the London researcher have spent many years studying how the Taliban get money. The results they get in their report present are surprising. “There is always this idea that the Taliban finance themselves primarily through drug trafficking,” explains Florian Weigand. That cannot be dismissed out of hand. “However, drugs play a comparatively minor role – at least in this province.”
“This province” is called Nimrus. It is located in the southwest of Afghanistan, borders both Iran and Pakistan and is more or less fallow. There is no active mining, no industry. The summers are so dry, the winters so cold and the water so dirty that even growing poppies, the prerequisite for the drug business, is hardly possible.
Trade in legal goods
Nevertheless, a lot of money is being implemented in the region. It is possible that the Taliban have long since brought the country’s “real economic treasure” under their control. This is how the two scientists David Mansfield and Graeme Smith, the results of their study in an article for the “New York Times” together. Accordingly, of the estimated $ 40 million the Taliban earns annually in Nimrus, only $ 5 million comes from the drug business.
The cultivation of opium poppies and the production of opium and heroin improve the militia coffers, no question about it. The Taliban are also very likely to receive money from abroad from their allies or via hidden channels from neighboring countries such as Pakistan, which after the withdrawal of NATO troops want to see a reliable partner on their border. Most of the money is apparently not made with drugs, ransom or mining, but with the trade of mostly legal goods, with the so-called informal economy.
In their study, the two researchers write that only in Nimrus has about 235 million US dollars a year with fees for the safe movement of goods been generated in the last few years. From both sides, from the Taliban and from government officials. Aid funds, officially often the largest item on the balance sheet, washed only 20 million dollars a year into the coffers of the province.
Checkpoints and toll stations
“In recent years, the Taliban have imposed a kind of tax on all kinds of activities in the areas they control. This primarily includes agriculture,” says Weigand. The Taliban would take up to 10 percent of agricultural products. It is similar with construction projects. “Taxes of up to 10 or 15 percent are possible there,” explains the expert. “This can be done with large projects such as dams or roads that are financed from abroad, huge sums of money. “
“Again something learned” is a podcast for the curious: Will Deutsche Bank get its money back from Donald Trump? Why do some commercial pilots pay money for their job? Why are pirates moving from East to West Africa? Have a listen and get a little smarter 3 times a week.
You can find all episodes in the ntv app at Audio Now, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. “Learned again” is also with Amazon Music and Google Podcasts available. For all other podcast apps, you can use the RSS feed. Copy and paste the feed url and simply add “Again Learned” to your podcast subscriptions.
Another big source of money, according to the study, is the transportation business. The Taliban control important trade routes and have set up checkpoints and toll stations all over the country where truck drivers are stopped and only allowed to drive off once they have paid a fee. A few hundred dollars for a single truck is quite possible, the experts summarize their results.
“There is room for negotiation,” Weigand emphasizes. “It looks at how big the truck is, what its volume, what kind of good it has loaded – then it calculates which levy is due. In agriculture, it’s a bit more structured Pay a certain fee every year. ” Petrol from Iran is therefore a particularly lucrative commodity. That is much cheaper with the neighbor than in Afghanistan, explains the expert.
Militia with accounting
How lucrative? This is illustrated by the provincial capital of Nimrus, Saranj. Located right on the Iranian border, it was the first important city in the country to be captured by the Taliban in August. According to the study, it officially received a good 90 million dollars in taxes and levies last year and passed it on to the Afghan government in Kabul. Unofficially, however, revenue was at least $ 176 million, primarily from illegal gasoline taxation.
This is understandable for the researchers, among other things, because the Taliban are trying to prove themselves as fair alternative to present the corrupt system of the past 20 years. For example, their fighters issue receipts at checkpoints, toll booths and customs offices to prevent double taxation and fraud. The militia has one Kind of bureaucracy built to promote legitimacy among the people.
But can that be enough to stabilize Afghanistan and prevent famine and chaos? Can the Taliban transform itself from an armed group fighting against a state to a government that brings security and prosperity? Can 100,000 fighters, if at all, build and pacify a country of 40 million people? Do you even want that? If so, it won’t be easy. Just as little as blackmailing the Taliban. Because they know exactly how to fill their coffers.
.