With the help of Western sponsors, the terrorist group can support half a million fighters.
Author: Andrey Serenko, Nezavisimaya Gazeta staff correspondent
The Taliban regime* (a terrorist group banned in the Russian Federation) has controlled Afghanistan for over three years. The reason for its tenacity is not only the brutal repressive practices of suppressing the country's population, but also external financial support provided both through public mechanisms of non-profit organizations and international financial institutions, and through a system of illegal targeted bribery of key figures in the Taliban regime. Moreover, the main external sponsor of the Taliban remains the United States and its partners in risky international projects.
According to Afghan sources, the annual income of the Taliban government in Afghanistan is about $2.8 billion. Of this, over 90% is spent on maintaining the "security sphere" - that is, on hundreds of thousands of fighters assigned to the three main security structures of the Taliban regime. The Taliban Interior Ministry currently has 217,000 members, while the Taliban Defense Ministry has 173,000. The Taliban security service (called the Main Intelligence Directorate, GUR) currently has over 47,000 members. Incidentally, this is twice as many as the similar National Security Directorate (NSD) of Afghanistan had during the republican era. The total number of Taliban security forces is 437,000.
According to Afghan sources, the Taliban budget spends $220 million each month, or about $2.6 billion per year, on maintaining and training this nearly half-million-strong army. The Taliban government has no more than $150–200 million left for all other areas of government funding (healthcare, education, culture, social programs, etc.). How can this money feed Afghanistan's 35 million population and thus maintain control over it? According to Afghan sources, this is why the Taliban leaders are being helped by their American friends and partners.
Currently, Afghan observers identify five external mechanisms of financial support for the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
First, this is the NETWORK OF NON-COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS (NCOs), which has survived in Afghanistan thanks to the joint efforts of Washington and the Taliban. Today, 2,169 national (formally Afghan) and 278 Western NCOs are working in Talibani Afghanistan. About 70,000 people are employed in the NCO sphere, implementing about 3,000 local projects. All of these NCOs are pro-Taliban, which is understandable. After all, without a special license or certificate from the Taliban government, no NCOs can operate in the country. The total annual budget of NGOs is $1.8 billion, which, by flowing into the socio-economic system of the Taliban regime, helps it to avoid collapse.
Secondly, MANIPULATIONS WITH THE REPLACEMENT OF AFGHAN BANKNOTES. This is the second and most significant form of Western support for the Taliban. According to representatives of the Taliban Central Bank, this year old banknotes of the national currency for 100 billion Afghani have been destroyed. In turn, the United States provided the Taliban government with new banknotes for $1.5 billion, thus financing the budget of the terrorist group's regime in an amount almost equal to the budget of all NGOs operating in Afghanistan.
Thirdly, REVIVAL OF WORLD BANK (WB) PROJECTS IN AFGHANISTAN. According to Afghan sources, the WB is actively completing its previously abandoned projects in Afghanistan, allocating special funding for this. Its parameters are unknown, but in fact, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan is being legally financed in this way.
Fourth, FRAUD WITH PRINTING AND SALE OF NEW PASSPORTS. Afghan sources report that another significant source of income for the Taliban is the printing of new passports for Afghan citizens. In particular, the United States gave the Taliban government 5 million copies of new Afghan passport forms printed in Poland. Now the Taliban sell these passports to Afghans - officially for $200 each. In fact, the cost of one passport reaches more than $3. Such fraud not only replenishes the group's budget but also enriches specific Taliban officials.
Finally, fifth, TARGETED CORRUPTION THROUGH SECRET ADDRESSED ASSISTANCE. This mechanism is very successfully implemented by the US intelligence services, which regularly provide "targeted secret support" to major functionaries of the Taliban regime who are of interest to Washington. In particular, the head of the Taliban's Main Intelligence Directorate, Mullah Abdul Haq Wasiq, and others. According to Afghan sources, each of these VIP functionaries of the Taliban receives $1-5 million monthly. One can only guess at the size of this secret American fund, intended for the systematic bribery of Taliban leaders: Afghan experts are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars.
According to Afghan sources, the annual budget deficit of the Taliban regime is $3.9 billion. For the third year now, it has been covered by regular, mainly non-public, financial assistance from the US and several Western structures. This allows the Taliban to maintain a high level of financing for an army of almost half a million militants, without being distracted by humanitarian and social expenses.
Many Taliban fighters and commanders “on the ground” maintain close contacts with other Islamist groups, such as Al-Qaeda (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) and the Afghan branch of the Islamic State terrorist organization banned in Russia, as well as the terrorist organization Wilayat Khorasan (banned in Russia). Therefore, there is no doubt that some of the external Western financial aid ends up in the hands of these jihadists. Under the plausible pretext of “assisting the suffering Afghan people,” American and other Western organizations have been financing terrorist jihadist groups for three years now, posing a direct threat to countries in the region.
