openDemocracy: The Afghan official told openDemocracy that the country’s mines are “labour intensive, don’t use high technology and machinery and only provide risky work, without safeguards or insurance”. “But,” they added, explaining how such mines continue to find willing workers, “so many Afghans are starving, they don’t even care about their own life”. Click here
FT: As Afghanistan battles economic crisis Islamists increase exports to generate revenue with the help of child labour Dozens of men and boys, covered head to toe in coal dust, stream in and out of the mine shafts bored deep into a mountain in northern Afghanistan… Click here to read more (external link).
Ayaz Gul VOA News July 16, 2022 ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s cash-strapped Taliban government has tripled prices for coal in less than a month to raise revenue from its mining sector amid a lack of direct foreign funding and booming coal exports to neighboring Pakistan. The spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum in Kabul, Esmatullah
Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 15, 2022 Cash-strapped and cut off from international aid, the Taliban-led government is tapping into Afghanistan’s natural resources to boost revenue. Since the Taliban toppled the Western-backed government in Kabul and seized power in August 2021, the export of and custom duties from coal have become a key
Tolo News: Owners of coal factories in Afghanistan said the Afghan coal is being sold to three Pakistani companies: Fauji Fertilizer Power Station, Cherat Cement Factory and Lucky Cement and Coal. Economists said these companies are connected with the Pakistan Army. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: Hundreds of tonnes of coal from mines across the country are being exported on a daily basis to Pakistan. The industrial companies working in the coal business said that the majority of coal is from Dara-e-Soof of Samangan and Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pul province. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved the import of coal from Afghanistan in rupees instead of US dollars, saying the move will help the country save precious foreign exchange. Sharif on Monday chaired a meeting on improving the transportation system of coal imported from Afghanistan in the country, the Express Tribune reported. “The
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty June 16, 2022 Afghans are struggling to make ends meet amid an economic crisis that has disrupted basic services, left them with rising costs and dim employment prospects, and battered the health and financial sectors. But the country’s Taliban leaders, limited to domestic revenue to fund its first annual budget, have
8am: With the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Pakistan has become Afghanistan’s most important natural resources market. Local sources in Takhar province say that hundreds of trucks carrying coal are being loaded and transported to Pakistan on daily basis from his province. According to sources, some Taliban officials and commanders are involved in the deal. Residents
Ariana: According to a directive of the Ministry of Finance, coal trucks will no longer be allowed to pass through Torkham customs and will have to use alternate routes. The move was taken to avoid spoilage of fresh fruits and traffic congestion on highway, the ministry said. Click here to read more (external link).