United Nations: The Taliban In Afghanistan Are Becoming A Criminal Organization

Taliban fighters pose with weapons at an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan in this May 5, 2011 picture. Credit: Reuters/Stringer/Files

Taliban Changing From Religious Group To Criminal Enterprise: U.N. -- Reuters

(Reuters) - The Taliban's reliance on extortion and kidnappings, along with narcotics and illegal mining operations, is transforming it from a group driven by religious ideology into a criminal enterprise hungry for profit, U.N. sanctions monitors said in a new report.

The latest annual report by the U.N. Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team on the Taliban was distributed to reporters on Friday, a day before Afghans vote in a run-off presidential election.

"In addition to voluntary or forced donations from Afghan businesses outside the country as well as voluntary donations motivated by religious or ideological convictions, the Taliban have established a fairly sophisticated system to generate resources inside the country," the report said.

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My Comment: It's always about the money .... even for religious fanatics.