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Source: http://www.news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=538552003
Russia Funding Resurgent Taliban
(Scotsman-UK) - Ian Mather Russia is funding the Taliban's guerrilla war against the American-backed government of Afghanistan. "There are some countries that are against the policies of the U.S. and the UN, and they support the guerrillas. The most important role belongs to Russia, Iran, and Pakistan," said Engineer Hamidullah, the Taliban's former deputy chief of finance. According to Taliban sources in Pakistan and Afghan intelligence sources, the group has a new hierarchy of leaders orchestrating opposition to the U.S.-sponsored Afghan government of Hamed Karzai from Afghanistan and Pashtun tribal areas of northwest Pakistan. Barnett Rubin, an expert on Afghanistan at New York University, said: "They [the Taliban] are now organizing for a new offensive and they are still getting some support from Pakistan. Even if Pakistan is not cooperating directly, it is not cooperating in efforts to end the support that is coming from Pakistani territory."