Taliban said Wednesday they have launched “professional extraction” at the Balkhab coal mine in northern Afghanistan, a project they say will create jobs and boost the country’s struggling economy.
The Taliban’s deputy chief minister for economic affairs, Abdul Ghani Baradar, inaugurated the project during a visit to Sar-e-Pul province, according to a statement. The operation is being carried out by the state-run National Development Company.
The statement said about 100 shafts have been dug and more than 2,000 people are directly employed at the mine. Annual output is expected to reach 500,000 tons of coal. Officials said the extracted coal will be used for energy production and industry, reduce poverty by creating jobs and strengthen Afghanistan’s economy.
“The Balkhab coal field is one of the country’s rich mineral resources, and the extraction process has so far been carried out well by the National Development Company,” Baradar said at the ceremony.
He stressed that Afghanistan should not rely only on exporting raw materials but should build domestic processing plants to create more jobs and strengthen local industry.
The Taliban also said the National Development Company has built more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) of gravel roads to connect the Balkhab coal mines with other areas, in order to facilitate transport.
International observers have previously questioned the Taliban’s management of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth and the use of revenues generated from extraction.
