US to track down Taliban funds: Holbrooke

Lahore, June 7 (ANI): President Barack Obama's Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, has said the United States will trace the financial sources of the Taliban.

Holbrooke said the Taliban is getting more money from private donors than from their opium trade, estimated to be about 300 million dollars a year.

"In the past, there was a kind of a feeling that the money all came from drugs in Afghanistan. That is simply not true," the Daily Times quoted Holbrooke, as saying.

Identifying the source of the money for the Taliban has been one of the most elusive goals for the US since September 11, 2001, but the task is central to the American war effort in Afghanistan, and to fighting militancy in Pakistan.

"We want to focus on where the money really comes from. I will be adding a member of the Treasury Department to my staff within two weeks so we can focus more heavily on this area," Holbrooke said.

Holbrooke's remarks could mean America putting more pressure on Gulf countries to stop the flow of money into Afghanistan. (ANI)