Taliban Sells Panjshir Emeralds and Nuristan Gemstones Again

The Taliban administration announced the latest sale of emeralds from Panjshir and gemstones from Nuristan as part of its ongoing mining extraction efforts in Afghanistan.

Taliban officials stated that on Tuesday, 7,513 carats of emeralds extracted from Panjshir, valued at more than 6 million Afghanis, were sold. Additionally, 11,687 kilograms of precious and semi-precious stones from Nuristan, valued at more than 113 million Afghanis, were sold.

Rahim Omar, head of the Taliban's Mines and Petroleum directorate in Nuristan, specified that the Nuristan stones included kunzite, beruj, crystal and marganite. He said they were extracted from mines in the Maavi area of Duab district. Omar added that 11 million 356 thousand Afghanis from the Nuristan stone sales was deposited into the Taliban administration's treasury.

The Taliban has emphasized extraction and sale of Afghanistan's natural resources during its more than four years in control of the country.

Critics contend that the Taliban is unprofessionally and illegally plundering the country's mines and diverting sales revenue to consolidate its rule rather than investing in national development.

The Taliban's Mines and Petroleum directorate in Panjshir previously announced in the month of Qaus that more than 260 new emerald mines had been discovered in the province this year.