US official says Taliban wealthier than al Qaeda

[Naveed Yaseen]

WASHINGTON (October 13 2009): A senior Treasury Department official says the Taliban are in much stronger financial shape than al Qaeda and rely on a wide range of criminal activities to pay for attacks on US forces in Afghanistan. David Cohen, the department's assistant secretary for terrorist financing, said Monday the extremist group extorts money from farmers and heroin traffickers involved in Afghanistan's booming illicit drug trade.

The Taliban also demand protection payments from legitimate Afghan businesses, he said. Portions of the Taliban's illicit proceeds make their way out of the country and into the global financial system, he said. Cohen did not specify how much or detail the money's suspected entry points into the United States.

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