Washington: The Taliban in Afghanistan has
threatened foreign companies hoping to extract newly-disclosed
mineral wealth in the poverty-wracked country, a group
monitoring its communications reported.
Claiming the government of President Hamid Karzai is
illegitimate and does not represent the Afghan people, the
Taliban said the administration has no right to issue minerals
contracts.
Any mining company working in Afghanistan will become a
target and the government "will have no opportunity when it
comes to providing security for those companies` workers and
staff," according to US-based monitoring group SITE.
The Taliban further promises that "any party which enters
into contract to extract natural minerals and which signs a
deal with the corrupt administration, is renounced and is and
will be treated as an `apostate entity` by the Islamic emirate
and the Afghan people."
The mineral wealth of Afghanistan has remained largely
unexploited because the country has been mired in conflict for
three decades and is today embroiled in an insurgency by
Islamist militants led by the Taliban.
But the government has said the findings of a recently
completed US geological survey could transform Afghanistan
from one of the world`s most impoverished nations to one of
the richest, with up to three trillion dollars in mineral
wealth.
Current minister of mines Wahidullah Shahrani on Friday
promised total transparency in the awarding of contracts to
exploit the country`s mineral wealth during a trip to London
to woo foreign investment.
PTI
