The Taliban-controlled national radio and television reported on Wednesday that 2,746 carats of emeralds from Panjshir were sold for $80,000.
The Taliban’s Department of Mines and Petroleum in Panjshir said that the emeralds were sold to traders in the ninth round of bidding.
The Taliban began mining emeralds in the first district of Panjshir province in mid-August 2022. The Taliban Ministry of Mines and Petroleum announced at the time that it had granted 200 emerald miners licenses to operate.
According to Taliban figures, 750 emerald mines have been registered in Panjshir, of which 500 are active The sale of the emeralds is a significant development for the Taliban, which is looking to generate revenue from Afghanistan’s natural resources. The Taliban has said that it plans to use the revenue from mining to fund reconstruction and development projects in the country.
The sale of the emeralds has also been met with criticism from some quarters. Critics say that the Taliban is not transparent about how it is managing the mining process and that the revenue is not being used to benefit the Afghan people.
