According to Iraf, the Taliban’s Directorate of Mines and Petroleum in Nuristan stated that a collection of gemstones and semi-precious stones extracted from this province, including tourmaline, kunzite, and marginite, was sold through an auction process.
The total value of this shipment was reported to be 52 million and 620 thousand Afghanis, and according to officials, part of this revenue was transferred to the group’s treasury.
Bakhtar News Agency, a Taliban-controlled media outlet, reported that Sayed al-Rahim Ameer, head of the Taliban’s Mines and Petroleum in Nuristan, stated that from the total of this sale, 5 million and 226 thousand Afghanis were deposited into the Taliban government’s financial account.
The Taliban say that relying on domestic revenues, especially the mining sector, they can fund their government expenses.
However, critics emphasize that instead of professional and legal management of natural resources, the Taliban pursue extraction and sale of mines in a non-transparent and illegal manner, and spend the revenues to consolidate their rule and intra-group interests.
Experts say that emeralds and tourmaline from Nuristan and Kunar are traded at high prices in international markets, but the main profit does not reach the people or national development.
