How the Taliban took over Afghanistan’s mines
How the Taliban took over Afghanistan’s mines
Financial Times
The Taliban moved fast after coming to power, approximately doubling the rate at which contracts were issued in the three years before they took charge, according to an analysis by the Financial Times and the Centre for Information Resilience, a UK-based non-profit group.
Rahimullah Samandar, a former chief executive of the Afghanistan Chamber of Industries and Mines, recalls how the halls of the mining ministry overflowed with would-be miners — including from within the Taliban itself — as the group struggled to keep control.
“Small and big Taliban commanders were coming to my office and asking, ‘How can I get a mine?’” he said. “I was asking them, ‘Do you have any experience in mining?’ ‘I don’t.’ ‘Do you have a partner?’ ‘I don’t.’ ‘Do you have money?’ ‘I don’t.’”
Patchy trade data makes quantifying the scale of activity difficult. Of the 128 contract sites examined by the FT, 88 showed signs of either having been developed or expanded.
Nearly half of contracts issued by the Taliban show signs of activity
Contracts awarded since October 2021, by mineral and development status
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The full article is available here. This article was published at FT Markets.
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