Taliban: 'Britons Are Our Main Bankrollers'

The regional leader made the claims at a secret meeting after we travelled deep into bandit country under the cover of darkness.
Far beyond the reach of any government or military authority, we drove through river beds and over passes into the mountains that divide Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This is Kunar province where the Taliban reign supreme and where, after months of negotiation, we were told we would meet the commander and his commando platoon.


Unsure what to expect, we were kept in a compound until late at night. Through the gloom the first shadowy figures appeared.
Thirty men in total, dressed in ordinary Afghan clothes but with their faces masked by their scarves, filed into a room that had been set aside for our meeting, their weapons and gun belts strapped over their shoulders.

Taliban regional commander"We are not like a government, we depend on individuals. We get donations from our Muslim brothers in Britain for Jihad. It is the duty of all Muslims to pay towards fighting Jihad. This is how we get our money and buy our weapons and carry on fighting."