Afghanistan’s possession of rich mineral resources is an undeniable advantage, placing the country in a favorable international position while simultaneously dragging it into dangerous, downward paths. The internal wars, destruction, killings, and migrations can partly be linked to these rich mineral resources.
First Era of Taliban Rule
The Taliban came to power in 1996 and were ousted in 2001, but they weren’t destroyed. They continued to destabilize major cities from the mountains and valleys through suicide operations, considered the most brutal form of terrorism.
From 2001 to 2020, the Taliban conducted about 1,196 suicide attacks in Afghanistan, leaving no place safe. Government centers, military bases, hospitals, maternity wards, mosques, shrines, Friday and group prayers, memorial services, universities, schools, educational courses, public demonstrations, funerals, football games, and officials’ private residences were all targets. Such massacres were unprecedented in Afghanistan.
During the rule of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, suicide attacks were the primary warfare method of the Taliban. Exploiting the vulnerabilities, they recruited people from the illiterates, the poor, the unemployed, children, social outcasts, addicts, and mentally disabled individuals for suicide missions, against human, ethical, Islamic, and international principles.
Second Era of Taliban Rule
The Taliban regained power through an agreement known as the Doha Accord. American forces left Afghanistan swiftly after twenty years of presence, handing over control to the Taliban. Concurrently with the withdrawal of American forces, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan collapsed, and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. The Taliban entered Kabul, seizing the Presidential Palace and officially ending the Republic era.
Mines in Afghanistan
Mine is one of the vital sectors of any country’s economy, playing an indispensable role in economic development. Countries influence others’ politics and culture significantly through this sector, while politics also affect the dynamism or stagnation of the mining sector.
Mines have long been recognized as critical components of wealth generation and employment, holding significant value in the economy and politics of nations. This reality has been evident since ancient times. The Bronze and Iron Ages, transitioning Stone Age humans to civilization-building eras, highlight this truth. Early humans knew few natural resources, but with the advent of the knowledge age, awareness of underground resources increased. Today, humans are familiar with countless natural resources, using them in every aspect of life. In essence, industry and human life are built on mining, and modern civilization without mineral products is unimaginable.
Countries with natural resources and mineral reserves can utilize them for years by applying correct extraction methods, waste control, and regulating extraction amounts, supporting their economies and industries. Afghanistan, located on a major orogenic belt and influenced by geological activities enriching it with valuable minerals, has billions of tons of reserves and hundreds of types of minerals. It stands out in the region and world.
Afghanistan’s complex and diverse geology and long and intricate tectonic history, due to its position at the western end of the Himalayas, the collision of the Indian subcontinent, the formation of the Hindu Kush, and other factors, contribute to its rich mineral deposits. The country’s mountainous terrain hosts numerous and diverse mineral reserves.
Positioned favorably for potential energy and mineral resources, the country enjoys significant mineral diversity. It can be claimed that abundant mineral wealth, in terms of variety, quantity, and quality, lies within this land. The abundance and diversity of minerals, along with cheap labor and energy, distinguish Afghanistan in producing low-cost mineral products compared to global competitors. However, past dangerous activities and competitions in the mining sector have hindered the sector’s optimal role in the national economy.
Afghanistan’s economy, which relies on underground resources and exports raw materials, leads to excessive and exploitative mining, which amounts to the plundering of natural resources.
Plundering of Mines Under the Taliban’s Second Rule
With unique potential and capacity in mining and natural resources, Afghanistan is recognized regionally and globally. Today, monitoring and controlling these valuable resources at the exploration, extraction, and utilization stages are crucial, considering current societal needs and future generations. Overexploitation risks depleting these resources, depriving future generations. Additionally, from a perspective of social justice, mines are public wealth, belonging to all citizens, and their discovery, extraction, and utilization must be based on justice and equitable wealth distribution.
Lacking technical knowledge, investment, and resource management, the Taliban lack specialized mining abilities. Since regaining control, beyond causing numerous human casualties through suicide attacks, they have turned to illegal, excessive, and unprofessional mining, plundering, and selling products.
Stolen mine fragments reach China, India, Pakistan, Russia, Iran, Qatar, Turkey, the UK, and other countries. This sparks severe international competition over Afghanistan’s plundered mines, threatening not only Afghanistan but the entire region’s security. Thus, mines and natural reserves face unprecedented plunder, causing increasing concern over future extensive underground resource exploitation by the Taliban, leading to resource destruction and social collapse.
Mines and underground reserves belong to the people of Afghanistan and future generations. No political-military group has the right to transfer or contract these resources. Currently, Afghanistan lacks a legitimate government under international law, so no company or country has the right to sign mining contracts with a stateless geography. Foreign groups or companies should not contract with an illegitimate group in a stateless region, as only legitimate governments can allocate mining rights to entities. Contracts signed with the Taliban by foreign countries or companies during Afghanistan’s state vacuum lack legal validity and are void.
Since coming to power, the Taliban have contracted over 700 to 1,000 large and small mines with foreign companies, generating billions of dollars in revenue. This national wealth should support Afghanistan’s development, industry, and public services, not bolster the Taliban’s war machine and suppress citizens.
Top officials allot and divide mines among themselves, focusing on filling their pockets, and disregarding national resources and future generations. Remaining revenue funds terrorist plans, reinforcing the totalitarian and tribal regime, expanding terrorist activities in Afghanistan and the region, and even financing al-Qaeda and other terror groups. In return, al-Qaeda and other groups provide tens of thousands of people for mining and fighters for war fronts and terrorist activities.
In conclusion, the future fate of Afghanistan’s mines and people, given the current dire situation, remains uncertain if the Taliban’s rule continues.
You can read the Persian version of this analysis here:
طالبان و رو آوردن به تاراج و چپاول معادن در افغانستان؛ عواقب و پیامدهای آن | روزنامه ۸صبح
