Ariana: [Taliban] Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum said this week that 250 domestic and foreign firms have submitted their bids for the iron mine in Herat and lead mine in Ghor province. Esmatullah Burhan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, said that it is evaluating the bids and will soon announce
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).
Ariana: Speaking at a press conference as part of the new ministerial accountability program, Shahabuddin Delawar, acting minister of mines and petroleum, said that the ministry signed contracts for the extraction of 158 small mines over the past year. 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).
8am: The Taliban group has started mining marble in Ghazni province without considering the procurement law, local sources reported Thursday. To survive, the group has no other option but to rely on illegal and irresponsible extraction of the underground resources as they used to do when they were fighting against the Kabul Administration. One of
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