Taliban reliant on illegal drug trafficking for financing as production booms, UN says

As the Taliban secures its grip on Afghanistan, the United Nations is warning that the militant group is reliant on drug trafficking as one of its primary sources of financing, as opium poppy production has increased significantly.

"This remains the Taliban’s largest single source of income," the report says. "It also has a destabilizing and corrupting effect within Afghanistan and contributes significantly to the narcotics challenges facing the wider international community." The report also found that there was a decline in narcotics seizures by the Afghan government in 2020, which was attributed in part to the gradual expansion of Taliban-controlled territory — where the militant group was reliant on it as one of its sources of funding.