Local sources in Badakhshan say the Taliban have intensified the illegal extraction and looting of gold mines across the province. Local and non-local commanders work day and night, digging, extorting residents, and seizing private land. Whenever fighters find signs of gold, they force residents out of their workshops and transfer control to their own affiliates. In the most recent incident, residents clashed with Taliban fighters in the Samti area of Chah Ab District in Takhar Province over land that the group had reportedly moved excavation equipment onto.
In Shahr-e Bozorg District of Badakhshan Province, local sources complain about fighters linked to Mawlawi Amanuddin, the Taliban governor of Badakhshan. They say armed group leaders connected to him are systematically seizing land and gold extraction workshops. According to these sources, Qari Mahboobullah Kashaf, an affiliate of Shafiq, the Taliban head of mines in Badakhshan and a close associate of Mawlawi Amanuddin, forcibly took six gold workshops in the Dawang area from local landowners. He also controls more than ten other mines in the district and regularly extorts and intimidates residents. Sources say Kashaf relies on the Taliban’s military power and influence to carry out these actions.
At the same time, local sources, supported by a video, accuse fighters affiliated with Mullah Hafiz, the Taliban governor in Farah, of similar abuses. They say his affiliates forcibly shut down civilian projects, seize residents’ excavators, take over mining workshops, and demand payments. According to the sources, two men named Bismillah Mistri and Mahmoud, described as affiliates and representatives of this Taliban governor, have carried out these acts and have harassed residents and mine workers using weapons and military equipment.
Local sources further report that Mawlawi Ghiyas, the Taliban district governor in Jurm and a native of Yaftal District in Badakhshan Province, has also forcibly taken control of several projects and continues mining operations. Residents of the Dawang area and the Awiz Pashkar region have repeatedly approached the Taliban Ministry of Mines to seek permits, but officials have denied their requests. At the same time, individuals affiliated with the Taliban obtain mining permits with ease by paying bribes or promising shares of gold.
Earlier, sources confirmed that most first-tier officials in Taliban-controlled government departments engage in bribery, extortion, and the collection of what they call gold khums. Their deputies often run the departments, while fighters and commanders focus on land seizures, unregulated extraction, and the widespread plundering of mines.
Local sources in Badakhshan Province warn of a large, organized network that influential Taliban-linked figures use to loot gold mines and other natural resources. They say this system operates deliberately through force, corruption, and coordination with certain Taliban leaders.
In Takhar Province, residents of the Samti area of Chah Ab District have confronted Taliban fighters who planned to extract minerals inside residential neighborhoods. Local sources say the residents, worn down by Taliban pressure and angered by their exclusion from mining activities, took to the streets in protest.
One source says that after Friday prayers, residents clashed with a Taliban-affiliated company, destroyed its excavators, and drove its workers out of the area. Taliban military forces later arrived, and fighting broke out between the two sides. According to the source, the Taliban had intended to begin mining there without a legal permit.
These developments follow an earlier report by Foreign Policy, which said the al-Qaeda network has returned to Afghanistan and now profits from mines in the northeast under Taliban protection, earning tens of millions of dollars each week. The report says al-Qaeda, with Taliban support, has employed tens of thousands of workers in the illegal extraction of mines in Badakhshan and Takhar and draws enormous income from gold mining in the two provinces.
According to the report, al-Qaeda receives a 25 percent share of mining revenues allocated by the Haqqanis and the group of Hibatullah Akhundzada. The report states, “The Taliban’s monthly income from gold mines exceeds 25 million dollars, while this amount does not appear in their official budget and flows directly into the pockets of senior Taliban officials and their personal networks.” The report adds that since mining operations began in early 2022, al-Qaeda has earned a total of 194.4 million dollars.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
