The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in a report that the primary sources of income for the Taliban are narcotics, illicit mining, and other illegal activities.

SIGAR, citing a UN Security Council report, said the Taliban has continued to adapt and expand its ability to maintain and generate financial revenues to support their operations from June 2019.

“The primary sources of income for the Taliban remain narcotics, illicit mineral and other resource extraction, taxation, extortion, the sale of commercial and government services and property, and donations from abroad,” the report said.

The UN report states that Afghan officials estimate Taliban income from narcotics between June 2018 and June 2019 amounted to approximately $400 million.

The report also notes that the Taliban now controls all aspects of narcotics production, which likely indicates that their total revenues are even higher.

“In our February 2018 meeting, a senior official from the Resolute Support Counter Threat Finance Cell estimated that between 40 to 60 percent of the Taliban’s revenue comes from narcotics trafficking,” the report added.

According to SIGAR, Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of opium and the source of more than 90 percent of the world’s heroin.

SIGAR’s finding shows that the US has allocated more than $8 billion to fight opium production and trafficking in Afghanistan since the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2021.

“We previously reported that despite this enormous investment, “no counterdrug program undertaken by the United States, its coalition partners, or the Afghan government resulted in a lasting reduction in poppy cultivation or opium production,” SIGAR said.

The Taliban, however, has rejected the report, stating, “a number of provincial governors, ministers, commanders, and border forces are involved in drug smuggling.”