GHAZNI CITY (SW): Members of the Ghazni Provincial Council claim that the Taliban have signed a pact with the Pakistani traders for the illegal sale of minerals from Zenkhan, Waez, Zarkashan districts.
Based on Salam Watandar’s findings, at first these mines were excavated directly by the Taliban but later in cooperation with Pakistani miners, the mines are now being extracted skillfully and imported illegally outside the country.
Mohammad Aman Hamimi, Governor of Ghazni, told Salam Watandar about this illegal extraction of the mines and Taliban’s influence over it. According to the local government’s findings, five major mines in the province have been under the militants’ control.
According to the governor, Pakistani mine experts, in close cooperation with local Taliban in Waez, Zankhan and Moqur districts, have illegally extracted minerals and smuggled them to Pakistan.
The illicit income will be channeled back to Afghanistan to help strengthen the militants to continue fighting in Afghanistan.
The residents in the remote areas in the province told Salam Watandar that the contract signed between the militants and Pakistanis makes it easy to transport Afghanistan’s mines at a low cost to Pakistan.
Abdul Jameh, a member of Ghazni Provincial Council, said that the Taliban have recently signed a contract over yet another mine located in the mountains of Tor district. He said that the extraction around the mine has started and vehicles have been sent to the area to carry what is extracted.
Hassan Reza Yousufi, another member of Ghazni Province Council, said that the council has credible information about the extraction of precious mines by the Taliban and Pakistani miners. He said that the government’s silence about it is worrying.
Ahmadullah Hakimi, Head of Department for Mines in Ghazni, told Salam Watandar that the Ministry of Mines has barred them from sharing info on illegal extractions of the mines with the media.
Local residents in Nawar district in Ghazni said that a number of influential and powerful men are too involved in the illegal extraction of the mines.
ENDS
