A deadly clash at a gold mine in northern Afghanistan has shed new light on the Taliban's efforts to increase gold extraction, raising questions about the largely unregulated operations and their support from abroad, primarily China.
Following the latest incident, the Taliban government's Ministry of Interior confirmed on January 7 that four people were killed and five wounded in clashes last week between officials of a company holding a gold mining contract and residents of Chah Ab district in Takhar province.
Among the dead were three local residents and one company employee, Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Matin Kane told reporters after the incident, adding that a company guard and a local man had been arrested on murder charges, and that the company's operations had been suspended while the investigation was ongoing.
He did not name the company or identify the victims, but the attack occurred in an area known for a large number of Chinese or joint Afghan-Chinese mining projects.
Locals say the conflict began after the company began mining on agricultural and residential land, sparking protests that turned violent, highlighting growing tensions over Afghanistan's gold sector, which has been expanding rapidly but without transparency under Taliban rule.
Since the Taliban's return to power in August 2021, the country's mineral resources, considered a pillar of economic recovery, have entered a new phase marked by limited oversight, increased foreign involvement – largely led by China – and growing local opposition.
In November 2025, five Chinese nationals working in a gold mine near Tajikistan's remote border with Afghanistan were killed in two separate attacks. It remains unclear who was behind the attacks, but reports by Radio Free Europe (RFE) have revealed a history of rising tensions and violence between local residents and Chinese-backed mining operators over environmental concerns and dissatisfaction with the exploitation of the region's mineral wealth.
"Unfortunately, there is no oversight in Afghanistan, and mining is mostly taking place in areas that are easiest to exploit," Abdul Qadir Motafi, a veteran of the Afghan mining industry, told RFE/RL, adding that public and independent oversight is significantly limited in mines contracted by the Taliban.
Environmental problems
In northern provinces like Badakhshan and Takhar, gold mining has increased dramatically under local leaders affiliated with the Taliban, while communities there complain that they are displaced and excluded while others profit.
In Shahr-e-Buzurg district of Badakhshan, about 50 kilometers from Faizabad, gold mining increased soon after the Taliban took power.
Locals who once scoured riverbeds with basic tools say their informal activities have been absorbed into a larger concession project controlled by Taliban officials and Chinese partners, using heavy machinery. Workers who spoke to RFE/RL say large areas are now fenced off and guarded by armed men with connections to influential figures, denying local residents access to the land and water they depended on.
"Ordinary people can't even come within a kilometer," one miner told RFE/RL, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of possible repercussions.
The Shahr-e-Buzurg mining zone encompasses both state and private land, with Chinese companies and Taliban-linked individuals reportedly exploiting state plots, while private owners either mine themselves or sell the land to outside investors.
Residents estimate that more than 500 groups now operate in and around the district, including workers coming from other provinces like Kandahar and Helmand, further increasing pressure on the local ecology.
The environmental impact of mining operations is visible in the northern river valleys. Locals say pistachio plantations and pastures have been destroyed, while excavation and stream diversions have repeatedly altered the course of the Amu Darya, the region's main river that also flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
A community elder in Badakhshan, who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity to avoid Taliban retaliation, said that Chinese mining companies bring their own security forces from Kabul and operate with great freedom without investing in the local community.
There are still no new clinics, schools or bridges, he said, while the profits go mostly to companies, Taliban officials and a small circle of local investors.
The Taliban's key source of income
The Taliban's Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has done little to challenge this perception at the local level.
The regime has issued tenders for gold deposits in the districts of Ragistan and Shahr-e-Buzurg in Badakhshan, but has not published contract texts, revenue figures, or environmental impact assessments. At the national level, the Ministry promotes mining as a cornerstone of economic policy and has signed dozens of agreements with foreign, mainly Chinese, partners, highlighting large investment commitments in several provinces, including Takhar.
For the Taliban authorities in Kabul, the mining initiative represents a key source of hard currency amid sanctions and diplomatic isolation. Officials argue that the foreign-backed projects will create jobs and finance national development, citing significant investment and projected state revenues.
However, economists and mining experts warn that exporting mostly unprocessed ore with weak regulation risks leaving Afghanistan with depleted deposits, limited employment, entrenched patronage networks and deepening inequality.
Azarakhsh Hafizi, former director general of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce, told RFE/RL that Afghanistan needs to process more of its minerals domestically to create value chains and sustainable jobs, instead of relying on massive exports of raw materials.
"Exporting mineral raw materials without restrictions has no positive economic effect. Our mines are being depleted, and we remain poor," said Hafizi. "We should extract less, but with quality, process the materials within the country and add value."
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