LAHORE: Taliban earn a bounty of up to Rs 200,000 (£1,660) for each NATO soldier they kill, insurgent commanders informed The Sunday Times on Sunday. The paper said the money was said to come from protection rackets, taxes imposed on opium farmers, donors in the Gulf states who channel money through Dubai and from the senior Taliban leadership in Pakistan.
| Interestingly enough, our guys will kill Taliban for nothing ... |
| Our guys feel strongly enough to do it for free, theirs have to be bribed. |
So far this year, 213 NATO soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, including 41 British troops, bringing the potential rewards for the Taliban to £350,000, The Sunday Times said.
The Taliban commanders told the paper that the bounty had more than doubled since the beginning of last year.
"The insurgents, who employ "hit and run" tactics against foot patrols and convoys, use paid informants, media reports and the local population to confirm the deaths of NATO soldiers," the paper said.
"We can't lie to our commanders: they can check to see if there was a fight in that area. We get money if we capture equipment too. A gun can fetch $1,000 [£690]," a commander from Khost province who controls about 60 fighters told The Sunday Times.
| D'you suppose they're getting that information from the New York Times, or directly from NATO press releases? |
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