The top US General in Afghanistan stated that 40 percent of the Afghan insurgency is being financed by opium sales.

From AFP:

The top US general in Afghanistan said Thursday he estimated that Afghanistan’s rampant opium poppy cultivation was funding up to 40 percent of the Taliban-led insurgency.

General Dan McNeill, head of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), added he had been told by an international expert that this figure was likely low and could reach up to 60 percent.

“It is my best subjective estimate that the insurgency enjoys fiscal resources from the cultivation of poppy probably to the level of 20 to 40 percent of its total fiscal resources,” the general told journalists.

The opium market in Afghanistanis listed by Havocscope at $3.1 billion.