Taliban Authorities Auction 62,000 Carats of Emeralds from Panjshir

The Taliban administration has announced that 62,000 carats of emeralds extracted from the mines in the first district of Panjshir province were auctioned off to local traders on Tuesday, July 28. Saifuddin Laton, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Panjshir, stated that this amount of emeralds was mined over the past two weeks from the district’s mines. According to Taliban officials, 10 percent of the revenue from the sale of these emeralds goes to the administration’s treasury, with the remaining share allocated to contracting companies. The Taliban administration claims that the extraction and sale of emeralds have continued regularly since their renewed control over Afghanistan. In addition to emeralds, the mining of other minerals in Panjshir — including gold, tourmaline, ruby, and green garnet — is also ongoing. Panjshir province is considered one of Afghanistan’s most important emerald mining centers, and its precious stones have previously been auctioned to both domestic and international markets.