Several residents of the Ishkashim district in Badakhshan province have expressed serious concern over the seizure of their lands by the Taliban’s Army Chief of Staff. According to them, the Taliban’s Army Chief of Staff and the group’s governor in Helmand have recently ordered the evacuation of the Shahrak-e Moallemin (Teachers’ Township) so that Chinese companies can begin gold extraction. Residents of Ishkashim say the Taliban have told inhabitants of the township that they will be paid 300,000 Afghanis for their homes, but anyone who refuses this offer will receive no compensation and will be forcibly expelled from the area. Meanwhile, sources within the Taliban-controlled Directorate of Properties in Badakhshan report that public properties are being leased out. According to these sources, the initial phase of this process targets residents of Badakhshan, but the primary objective is to relocate Taliban members from Helmand and Kandahar. They add that this decision has been made to prevent public backlash. At the same time, residents of Badakhshan have raised serious concerns over the Taliban’s misuse of animals in the destruction of opium crops, stating that nearly 300 sheep have died after consuming dried opium plants following pesticide spraying.
Amid ongoing forced displacements and the seizure of people’s properties by the Taliban, residents of Ishkashim district in Badakhshan, who follow the Ismaili sect, have voiced strong concern over the takeover of the Shahrak-e Moallemin. They say the township has been handed over by the Taliban to Chinese companies for gold extraction. According to them, residents have repeatedly raised their objections with Taliban-controlled institutions, but have received no response and have instead been ordered to leave the township so that extraction operations can begin soon.
Residents of Ishkashim state that Fasihuddin Fitrat, the Taliban’s Army Chief of Staff, and Amanuddin Mansoor, the group’s governor in Helmand, have recently ordered the evacuation of the Shahrak-e Moallemin, and that gold extraction will soon commence there. According to them, Chinese companies have seized the township in collusion with these Taliban officials, and individuals holding land plots in the area have been told they will receive 300,000 Afghanis per house while their lands will be taken.
One resident of Ishkashim, who requested anonymity, says that the Shahrak-e Moallemin, which had previously been distributed, has now been handed over by Fasihuddin Fitrat and Mawlawi Amanuddin to Chinese companies. According to him, people have been told they will be paid 300,000 Afghanis per plot, while many teachers had already completed their plots and spent more than 300,000 Afghanis on them.
The resident adds that members of the Ismaili community have repeatedly approached local Taliban officials to voice their objections, but their concerns have not been heard. According to him, this is not a sale of land, but rather a forced seizure by the Taliban, and people are being compelled to relocate. They emphasize that anyone who protests is suppressed by Taliban members from Badakhshan. He adds that Commander Zahir, one of the Taliban’s senior fighters in the group’s border unit, is responsible for enforcing the forced displacement and evacuation, and anyone who disobeys his orders is subjected to severe torture and detention.
Another local source says: “The lands distributed to teachers in the Ishkashim district, known as the Shahrak-e Moallemin, were allocated during the Republic period. In this district, the Taliban have repeatedly asked people to sell these lands at current market prices, claiming that they cannot afford to develop them and that the area contains gold. According to this source, Chinese engineers have signed contracts to extract resources from this region and use pretexts such as building schools and roads for the people. However, when residents resisted, they were told that the Chinese company had agreed to purchase each plot for 300,000 Afghanis.”
The source adds: “Teachers have said that instead of supporting them, this process results in transferring these lands to Taliban members and nomadic groups from southern provinces, allowing non-local individuals to settle under this pretext. Despite this, their concerns have been ignored.”
Another resident says, “Teachers have been threatened that they must accept selling their lands at the price set by the Taliban; otherwise, they will be punished.”
Another source says that Pashto-speaking nomads are set to be relocated by the Taliban to Ahangardi village, while residents will be displaced from the area. According to this source, anyone who protests this decision is threatened and tortured by Taliban fighters from Badakhshan.
A source within the Taliban’s Directorate of Properties in Badakhshan also confirms that public properties are being distributed under the guise of contracts to individuals from Helmand, Kandahar, and other regions in the south and east of the country. According to him, this decision has been made to silence the population, and if anyone protests, they are told that the lands have already been contracted.
The source adds: “All public properties are being leased for five years to non-local residents. Anyone coming from Helmand, Kandahar, and other Pashtun-majority areas receives land under the name of contracts so that people remain silent. This program is being implemented across all districts of Ishkashim, Zebak, Shughnan, and Wakhan, and previously, some public properties in Fayzabad city were also contracted out. Deeds are even issued to them secretly.”
A resident of Ishkashim district says, “In recent days, many individuals have come to Shughnan and Ishkashim under the pretext of buying gold, running shops, and trading livestock, and they are seeking to purchase land for settlement and living. Over the past two months, the Taliban have been moving across various districts of Badakhshan, and under the pretext of mining, they are pursuing marriages and land purchases in local communities, supported by armed individuals.”
Destruction of Opium Crops and Widespread Animal Casualties; About 280 Sheep Killed
Unlike previous years, the Taliban have used not only pesticide spraying but also herds of animals to destroy opium crops in Badakhshan, resulting in significant animal casualties. According to residents, this process begins with humiliation and insults toward the people and ends with the death of animals. Residents of Kishm district in Badakhshan say that around 300 sheep have so far died due to pesticide spraying in the fields.
A local source says: “Five days ago, in Qandum Qol Kalan village, approximately 280 sheep died after grazing on grass contaminated with chemicals used for destroying opium crops.”
Another source from former government security officials says that Taliban units in Qandum Qol and Baluch areas, in Dari Now and Dara Ghazi regions, sprayed opium fields, and sheep died after consuming dried opium plants.
Residents also describe the process of destroying opium fields as humiliating for both the people and local Taliban members, saying that the Taliban treat people with disrespect and mock them. According to them, this process began in Kishm and has spread to the areas of Bagh Mubarak, Shorabak, and Khwaja Abdal in Fayzabad city.
A credible source, who requested anonymity, says: “Approximately two thousand people have arrived; one thousand openly and the others under different names. They use people’s cattle and livestock to destroy opium crops, and there is a form of humiliation involved. No one listens to the people. They use these poor animals, most of which die after consuming the chemicals.”
The source adds, “Life has become bitter for the people. About 300 of their sheep have died, and they are suppressed and unable to file complaints or seek compensation.”
Previously, local sources in Badakhshan had reported that the Taliban had intensified illegal extraction and plundering of gold mines in the province, with both local and non-local commanders of the group continuously engaged in excavation, extortion, and land seizure. According to these sources, wherever signs of gold are found, Taliban fighters forcibly take over sites from residents and hand them over to affiliated individuals.
Additionally, Foreign Policy magazine had earlier reported that the Al-Qaeda network has once again returned to Afghanistan and, under Taliban protection, is generating substantial profits from illegal mining operations in the northeast of the country, particularly in Badakhshan and Takhar provinces. The report states that Al-Qaeda, under Taliban protection, has employed tens of thousands of workers for illegal mining and earns tens of millions of dollars weekly from gold mines in these provinces.
According to the report, Al-Qaeda receives 25 percent of the revenue from these mines, a share allocated by the Haqqani Network and a faction affiliated with Hibatullah Akhundzada. Foreign Policy also reported that the Taliban’s monthly income from gold mines exceeds $25 million, although these funds are not recorded in the group’s official budget and instead go directly into the pockets of senior Taliban officials and their affiliated networks. According to the report, from the beginning of mining operations in early 2022 until 2024, Al-Qaeda has earned a total of approximately $194.4 million.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
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