RASC News Agency: Local sources in Dasht-e-Qala district of Takhar province have reported the start of unauthorized gold mining and excavation in and around the ancient archaeological city of Ai-Khanum, one of Afghanistan’s most treasured historical sites.
According to witnesses, the Taliban, in collaboration with Chinese engineering teams, have begun extensive mineral extraction operations that threaten to irreversibly damage the region’s archaeological and cultural heritage.
Sources confirmed that Qari Zabiullah Ansari, the Taliban-appointed director of information and culture in Takhar, is leading the operation alongside Bashir Noorzai, a powerful Taliban-linked figure previously known for narcotics trafficking and illegal mining. Reports indicate that several Chinese engineers and workers affiliated with private firms have been granted protected access to the site under the supervision of Taliban commanders.
Residents say heavy machinery has been brought to the area and that excavations near the core of the ancient ruins have already caused structural damage to fragile archaeological layers.
Local complaints have reportedly reached Taliban provincial authorities, but officials have deflected responsibility, claiming that oversight of such activities falls under the Taliban’s Ministries of Mines and Information and Culture in Kabul.
Despite these claims, multiple sources told RASC News that the mining operations are being conducted without any professional archaeological supervision or environmental assessment, and that valuable artifacts have already been looted and sold on the black market.
The city of Ai-Khanum, located near the border with Tajikistan, dates back more than 2,300 years to the era of Alexander the Great. It represents one of the most remarkable examples of Greco-Bactrian civilization, where Greek and Indian architectural styles intertwined to create a unique cultural fusion.
The site, listed on UNESCO’s Tentative World Heritage Register, holds immense historical and academic significance offering rare insight into the spread of Hellenistic culture into Central Asia.
Archaeologists have described it as a “living museum of ancient globalization.”
Experts now warn that the current unregulated mining could obliterate priceless remnants of temples, theaters, and manuscripts before any comprehensive preservation work can be undertaken.
Cultural heritage experts and local activists have condemned the Taliban’s actions as state-sanctioned plunder, accusing the group of trading Afghanistan’s history for quick financial gain.
According to analysts, the Taliban have increasingly relied on illegal mining, drug trafficking, and resource deals with Chinese firms to finance their administration amid growing international isolation and economic collapse.
“The Taliban are selling Afghanistan’s history by the ton,” said a Kabul-based archaeologist, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisal. “Sites that took millennia to build are being destroyed in weeks, just so commanders can fund their militias and maintain control.”
Cultural preservation organizations, including Afghanistani heritage groups in exile, have appealed to UNESCO, the United Nations, and international archaeological institutions to intervene.
They warn that if left unchecked, the Taliban–China partnership in illegal mining could lead to the total erasure of Afghanistan’s ancient heritage a loss not just for the Afghanistani people, but for humanity.
The Center for Heritage and Human Rights issued a statement describing the ongoing operations in Ai-Khanum as “an act of cultural vandalism” and urged global action to protect Afghanistan’s archaeological legacy from political and economic exploitation.
Observers argue that the Taliban’s destruction of Ai-Khanum epitomizes their broader governance style: a combination of authoritarian control, economic desperation, and disregard for historical identity.
By commodifying sacred cultural sites, the regime appears to be monetizing Afghanistan’s ruins in exchange for short-term political survival and foreign allegiance.
“This is not development it’s desecration,” said one cultural historian. “The Taliban are digging up the foundations of Afghanistani civilization itself.”
As heavy equipment continues to dig through the sacred soil of Ai-Khanum, fears mount that Afghanistan’s ancient story may soon be lost beneath layers of greed and authoritarianism.
Heritage advocates warn that unless the international community takes urgent action, one of the last surviving symbols of Afghanistan’s pre-Islamic civilization could vanish forever buried not by time, but by tyranny.
