This project is an exploratory and interpretative piece of research looking at patterns of Taliban taxation to piece together an explanation of their practices.

This research is guided by two main, inter-related questions:
1. How and why do the Taliban collect taxes, and how does this vary across areas under Taliban influence?
2. What does the Taliban case tell us more broadly about insurgent taxation and informal taxation?

This project will use a case study approach, comparing taxation trends across three provinces to:
• identify what drives local Taliban practices of taxation;
• understand how it varies contemporaneously;
• understand how it has evolved differently in different locales over time.

Researchers

Rahmatullah Amiri

Rahmatullah Amiri is an independent researcher who focuses on social-political issues, security, armed non-state actors, peace and reconciliation, countering violent extremism, and humanitarian issues.

Ashley Jackson

Dr Ashley Jackson is co-Director for the Centre for the Study of Armed Groups, and author of ‘Negotiating Survival: Civilian-Insurgent Relations in Afghanistan’ (Hurst & Co., 2021).