Taliban facing financial crisis: US General

Noting that the Taliban has been driven to desperation around Marjah in southern Afghanistan, a top US general stationed there has said that the terrorist outfit is facing an acute financial crisis.

"We have intelligence that indicates to us that he (Taliban) has got a financial crisis on his hands," US Marine Corps Major General Richard Mills said in a video-briefing from the province to the Pentagon press room.

The targeting of the Taliban's opium "treasury" and various steps to undermine the terrorist organisation's opium profits has led to shortage of funds, he said.

As a result, Mills said, based in sensitive intelligence, he believes that local insurgency in the Helmand province has less than one-half of what they had last year in operating funds.

"He (the Taliban) has a cash-flow problem," Mills said, adding that the Taliban does not have the money needed to buy the weapons needed in order to continue conflicts.

The insurgency in the region, he said has been reduced from the use of rather expensive Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to simple bullets, which are cheaper and easier to get.

"It's difficult for us to judge specifically how much money he has lost. We believe that the local insurgency here within the province has less than one-half of what they had last year in operating funds. We based that on some sensitive intelligence that we're able to work with and some things we've studied," the general said.