Afghanistan Times
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It was announced in 2010 that about $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits were identified in Afghanistan. However, maybe trillions of dollars are laid down in our mountains and villages in form of mineral wealth, enough to fundamentally alter our economy—from bad today to excellent tomorrow. Based on several reports, the total mineral riches of Afghanistan may be worth over $3 trillion US dollars. Fragile economy is the core reason behind every sorts of problem. People kill and die for money—once economically developed, none will think of wrongdoings. Currently people are joining the militant ranks with clear vision of receiving money in return. Anyways, the good thing is that US showed readiness to help Afghanistan economically exploit our mineral wealth. Addressing a conference “Dialogue on mines between the government and the private sector’s” in Kabul, John R. Bass the US envoy in Kabul said, “We want to cooperate the ministry of mines and petroleum because this section plays an important role in economic development of Afghanistan.” It is a fact that Afghanistan could be changed into a peaceful and prosperous country once underground and other resource extracted and utilized in a proper way. The help of US in our mineral wealth is a realization of a fact that war cannot be won but could be uprooted through changing economy landscape of the Afghans. We have deep culture and history, but current war and bombs changed the situation. People around the world had good old memories of Afghanistan. The Afghan government must approach US as soon as can. Make sure not to waste this prospect. The US stand with us in extraction of mineral wealth—has to clutch the opportunity. Getting late could be very much dangerous as the militant outfits’ already illegal extracting minerals. The Taliban insurgents since longtime have been engaged in this lucrative business with help of outsiders. The extremist group started digging gold in Maqur district of southern Ghazni province with the help of Pakistani engineers. The gold mine is located in Koh Band area which had been under the Taliban insurgent’s control over the last several years. The National Unity Government has take care of the matter and recapture the district form the Taliban as they (militants) stealing our wealth with help of our number one enemy. This is intolerable. Government must do something before all the gold transferred to the Pakistan—our hostile neighbor that has been supporting and harboring several militant outfits.
