Editing Taliban (section)

== Economic activities ==
{{See also|Economy of Afghanistan}}

The Kabul money markets responded positively during the first weeks of the Taliban occupation (1996). But the [[Afghan afghani|Afghani]] soon fell in value. They imposed a 50% tax on any company operating in the country, and those who failed to pay were attacked. They also imposed a 6% import tax on anything brought into the country, and by 1998 had control of the major airports and border crossings which allowed them to establish a monopoly on all trade. By 2001, the per capita income of the 25&nbsp;million population was under $200, and the country was close to total economic collapse. As of 2007 the economy had begun to recover, with estimated foreign reserves of three billion dollars and a 13% increase in economic growth.<ref name="Skaine1" /><ref name="Lansford-147">{{Cite book |last=Lansford |first=Tom |title=9/11 and the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: A Chronology and Reference Guide |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-59884-419-1 |page=147}}</ref><ref name="Marsden">{{Cite book |last=Marsden |first=Peter |url=https://archive.org/details/talibanwarreligi0000mars/page/51 |title=The Taliban: war, religion and the new order in Afghanistan |publisher=Zed Books |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-85649-522-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/talibanwarreligi0000mars/page/51 51]}}</ref><ref name="Pugh1">{{Cite book |last1=Pugh |first1=Michael C. |title=War Economies in a Regional Context: Challenges of Transformation |first2=Neil |last2=Cooper |first3=Jonathan |last3=Goodhand |publisher=Lynne Rienner |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-58826-211-0 |page=48}}</ref><ref name="Castillo">{{Cite book |author-link=Graciana del Castillo |first=Graciana |last=del Castillo |title=Rebuilding War-Torn States: The Challenge of Post-Conflict Economic Reconstruction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-923773-9 |page=167}}</ref><ref name="Skaine2">{{Cite book |last=Skaine |first=Rosemarie |title=Women of Afghanistan in the Post-Taliban Era: How Lives Have Changed and Where They Stand Today |publisher=McFarland |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7864-3792-4 |page=58}}</ref>
[[File:ANA soldier shows opium captured in an alleged Taliban safe house in Helmand.jpg|thumb|right|Opium in Taliban safehouse in [[Helmand]]]]
Under the Transit treaty between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a massive network for smuggling developed. It had an estimated turnover of 2.5&nbsp;billion dollars with the Taliban receiving between $100 and $130&nbsp;million per year. These operations along with the trade from the [[Golden Crescent]] financed the war in Afghanistan and also had the side effect of destroying start up industries in Pakistan. [[Ahmed Rashid]] also explained that the Afghan Transit Trade agreed on by Pakistan was "the largest official source of revenue for the Taliban."<ref name="Nojum1">{{Cite book |last=Nojum |first=Neamatollah |url=https://archive.org/details/riseoftalibani00neam/page/178 |title=The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War and the Future of the Region |publisher=St Martin's Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-312-29584-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/riseoftalibani00neam/page/178 178]}}</ref><ref name="Nojum2">{{Cite book |last=Nojum |first=Neamatollah |url=https://archive.org/details/riseoftalibani00neam/page/186 |title=The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War and the Future of the Region |publisher=St Martin's Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-312-29584-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/riseoftalibani00neam/page/186 186]}}</ref><ref name="Chouvy1">{{Cite book |last=Chouvy |first=Pierre-Arnaud |title=Opium: uncovering the politics of the poppy |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2010 |pages=52ff}}</ref>

Between 1996 and 1999, Mullah Omar reversed his opinions on the drug trade, apparently as it only harmed [[kafirs]]. The Taliban controlled 96% of Afghanistan's poppy fields and made opium its largest source of taxation. Taxes on opium exports became one of the mainstays of Taliban income and their war economy. According to Rashid, "drug money funded the weapons, ammunition and fuel for the war." In ''The New York Times'', the Finance Minister of the United Front, [[Wahidullah Sabawoon]], declared the Taliban had no annual budget but that they "appeared to spend US$300 million a year, nearly all of it on war." He added that the Taliban had come to increasingly rely on three sources of money: "[[poppy]], the Pakistanis and bin Laden."<ref name="Chouvy1" />

In an economic sense it seems he had little choice, as the war of attrition continued with the Northern Alliance the income from continued opium production was all that prevented the country from starvation. By 2000, Afghanistan accounted for an estimated 75% of the world's supply and in 2000 grew an estimated 3276 tonnes of opium from poppy cultivation on 82,171 hectares. At this juncture Omar passed a decree banning the cultivation of opium, and production dropped to an estimated 74 metric tonnes from poppy cultivation on 1,685 hectares. Many observers say the ban – which came in a bid for international recognition at the United Nations – was only issued in order to raise opium prices and increase profit from the sale of large existing stockpiles. 1999 had yielded a record crop and had been followed by a lower but still large 2000 harvest. The trafficking of accumulated stocks by the Taliban continued in 2000 and 2001. In 2002, the UN mentioned the "existence of significant stocks of opiates accumulated during previous years of bumper harvests." In September 2001 – before the 11 September attacks against the United States – the Taliban allegedly authorised Afghan peasants to sow opium again.<ref name="Chouvy1" /><ref name="Shaffer3">{{Cite book |last=Shaffer |first=Brenda |url=https://archive.org/details/limitsofculturei0000unse/page/283 |title=The limits of culture: Islam and foreign policy |publisher=MIT Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-262-69321-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/limitsofculturei0000unse/page/283 283]}}</ref><ref name="Thourni">{{Cite book |last=Thourni |first=Francisco E. |title=The Organized Crime Community: Essays in Honor of Alan A. Block |publisher=Springer |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-387-39019-2 |editor-last=Bovenkerk |editor-first=Frank |page=130}}</ref><ref name="Lyman">{{Cite book |last=Lyman |first=Michael D. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_2901437744506/page/309 |title=Drugs in Society: Causes, Concepts and Control |publisher=Elsevier |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4377-4450-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_2901437744506/page/309 309]}}</ref>

There was also an environmental toll to the country, heavy deforestation from the illegal trade in timber with hundreds of acres of pine and cedar forests in [[Kunar Province]] and [[Loya Paktia|Paktya]] being cleared. Throughout the country millions of acres were denuded to supply timber to the Pakistani markets, with no attempt made at reforestation, which has led to significant environmental damage. By 2001, when the [[Afghan Interim Administration]] took power the country's infrastructure was in ruins, Telecommunications had failed, the road network was destroyed and Ministry of Finance buildings were in such a state of disrepair some were on the verge of collapse. On 6 July 1999, then president [[Bill Clinton]] signed into effect executive order 13129. This order implemented a complete ban on any trade between America and the Taliban régime and on 10 August they froze £5,000,000 in Ariana assets. On 19 December 2000, UN resolution 1333 was passed. It called for all assets to be frozen and for all states to close any offices belonging to the Taliban. This included the offices of [[Ariana Afghan Airlines]]. In 1999, the UN had passed resolution 1267 which had banned all international flights by Ariana apart from preapproved humanitarian missions.<ref name="Griffin">{{Cite book |last=Griffin |first=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/reapingwhirlwind00grif |title=Reaping the whirlwind: the Taliban movement in Afghanistan |publisher=Pluto Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7453-1274-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/reapingwhirlwind00grif/page/147 147] |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Wehr">{{Cite book |last=Wehr |first=Kevin |url=https://archive.org/details/greencultureatoz0000unse/page/223 |title=Green Culture: An A-to-Z Guide |publisher=Sage |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4129-9693-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/greencultureatoz0000unse/page/223 223]}}</ref><ref name="Rashid">{{Cite book |last=Rashid |first=Ahmed |title=Taliban: Islam, oil and the new great game in central Asia |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-86064-830-4 |page=187}}</ref><ref name="Clements">{{Cite book |last=Clements |first=Frank |title=Conflict in Afghanistan: a historical encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-85109-402-8 |page=148}}</ref><ref name="Bennett">{{Cite book |last=Bennett |first=Adam |title=Reconstructing Afghanistan |publisher=International Monetary Fund |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-58906-324-2 |edition=illustrated |page=29}}</ref><ref name="Farah">{{Cite book |last1=Farah |first1=Douglas |title=Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible |last2=Braun |first2=Stephen |publisher=Wiley |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-470-26196-5 |page=146}}</ref><ref name="Askari">{{Cite book |last=Askari |first=Hossein |title=Economic sanctions: examining their philosophy and efficacy |publisher=Potomac |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-56720-542-8 |page=56}}</ref><ref name="Pillar">{{Cite book |last=Pillar |first=Paul R. |title=Terrorism and U.S. foreign policy |publisher=Brookings Institution |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8157-7077-0 |page=77}}</ref>

According to the lawsuit, filed in December 2019 in the [[United States District Court for the District of Columbia|D.C. District Court]] on behalf of [[Gold Star Families for Peace|Gold Star families]], some US [[List of defense contractors|defense contractors]] involved in Afghanistan made illegal "protection payments" to the Taliban, funding a "Taliban-led terrorist insurgency" that killed or wounded thousands of Americans in Afghanistan.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 December 2019 |title=US contractors sued for allegedly paying 'protection money' to the Taliban in Afghanistan |publisher=CNBC |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/27/lawsuit-contractors-paid-protection-money-used-in-terrorist-insurgency.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=28 December 2019 |title=Gold Star Families Sue Defense Contractors, Alleging They Funded The Taliban |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/12/28/792065458/gold-star-families-sue-defense-contractors-alleging-they-funded-the-taliban}}</ref> In 2009, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the "protection money" was "one of the major sources of funding for the Taliban."<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 December 2019 |title=Gold Star family lawsuit alleges contractors in Afghanistan funneled money to the Taliban |work=CNN|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/27/politics/afghanistan-contractor-suit/index.html}}</ref>

It is estimated that in 2020 the Taliban had an income of $1.6 billion, mostly from drugs, mining, extortion and taxes, donations and exports.<ref name="Sufizada">{{Cite news |last=Sufizada |first=Hanif |date=8 December 2020 |title=The Taliban are megarich – here's where they get the money they use to wage war in Afghanistan |work=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |url=https://theconversation.com/the-taliban-are-megarich-heres-where-they-get-the-money-they-use-to-wage-war-in-afghanistan-147411 |access-date=19 August 2021}}</ref>

On 2 November 2021, the Taliban required that all economic transactions in Afghanistan use [[Afghan afghani|Afghanis]] and banned the use of all foreign currency.<ref>{{cite web |title=Taliban bans the use of foreign currency across Afghanistan |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/2/taliban-bans-use-of-foreign-currency-across-afghanistan |website=Al Jazeera |access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Taliban forbid use of US dollar, other foreign currency |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/579669-taliban-forbid-use-of-us-dollar-other-foreign-currency |work=The Hill |date=2 November 2021 |access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Taliban bar Afghans from using foreign currency as economy spirals |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/11/02/taliban-ban-foreign-currency-afghanistan/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref>

In 2022 construction on the [[Qosh Tepa Canal]] began in northern Afghanistan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eurasianet.org/unexplained-spill-fuels-concern-about-afghan-canal-project|title=Unexplained spill fuels concern about Afghan canal project &#124; Eurasianet}}</ref>

On 20 April 2024, the Taliban decided to abolish Afghanistan's pension system as [[Hibatullah Akhundzada]] claimed it was “un-Islamic”, which prompted protests by retirees and older veterans of the [[Afghan Armed Forces]] in [[Kabul]]. The protest was dispersed by the Taliban.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Siddique |first=Abubakar |date=2024-04-27 |title=The Azadi Briefing: Afghans Protest Taliban's Decision To Abolish Pension System |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-taliban-pensions-pakistan-balochistan/32921972.html |access-date=2024-04-27 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty}}</ref>