The Taliban appear to be facing financial pressure since the death of their former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was more adept at managing money, Charles Cleveland, a spokesman for NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan said.
he evidence we’ve seen of that is an increase in their taxes to locals as they move through,” Cleveland said at a press conference Wednesday in Kabul. “We believe that the death of Mullah Mansour certainly contributed to that as well.”
Mansour, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan’s Balochistan province in May, had financial acumen that, along with his involvement in the narcotics trade, helped grow the group’s war chest, Cleveland said.
“It was a good harvest and we did expect the Taliban to be flush with money, but since that time of course Mansour was killed and we have seen this evidence, in particular the taxes being raised on the local population,” he said.
The financial pressure could be affecting Taliban operational readiness. But Cleveland acknowledged the insurgent group manages to offset some of that pressure through their field operations against Afghan security forces.
“Of course what we’ve also seen is that they will raid a checkpoint and they kind of restock some of their supplies as well,” Cleveland added.
This comes while the insurgents have increased their attacks in different parts of the country recently – especially in Helmand, Uruzgan, Farah and Kunduz provinces.
This article originally appeared on www.mobile.tolonews.com, October 13, 2016. Original link.
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