The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Local Taliban officials in Panjshir province said that over the past year, more than 111,000 carats of emeralds from the province were sold, generating over $32 million in revenue.
The Taliban-run national television reported Thursday, April
9, quoting Abdul Qasim Amiri, head of Panjshir’s Taliban Minerals and Petroleum
Department, that the emeralds, extracted from Hesa Awal and Paryan districts,
were sold in 23 auction rounds to domestic and foreign traders.
Amiri added that over 32.4 million Afghanis from the sales
were deposited into the Taliban administration’s treasury. He noted that the
extraction of precious stones, including emeralds, rubies, and other mineral
resources, continues in the province.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that hundreds of new emerald
mines were discovered in Panjshir last year, bringing the total number of mines
in the province to thousands.
However, critics say that since the Taliban returned to
power, mining in Afghanistan is carried out without independent oversight,
financial transparency, or environmental safeguards.
