RASC News Agency: Officials of the Taliban group in Panjshir province have announced the commencement of iron ore extraction in the province in early 1403. According to a newsletter from the Taliban group’s media office in Panjshir province, published on Tuesday, Feb 13, this project, valued at 70 million US dollars, will be undertaken in the Parian district of the province.
In the newsletter, officials of the Taliban group in Panjshir province stated that the implementation of this project would decrease unemployment rates in the province, providing job opportunities for nearly two thousand individuals. Abdul Wakil Khosrow, the head of Abarsin Kochkan Mining Extraction Company, conveyed this during a meeting with Hafiz Mohammad Agha Hakeem, the governor of the Taliban group for Panjshir province. According to officials of the Taliban group in Panjshir province, Abarsin Kochkan Mining Extraction Company won the bid for iron ore extraction in this province through a competitive process.
While the Taliban group considers mining extraction in Afghanistan legitimate, their control over Afghanistan in the past two years has been informal, with no fundamental laws in the country. Economic experts describe mining extraction in Afghanistan in the absence of a legitimate government as the exploitation of the country’s natural resources in favor of the Taliban group. Despite the Taliban group’s claim of providing security across Afghanistan and the supposed time for the development and extraction of mines and underground resources, numerous attacks against the Taliban group and civilians still occur.
