Afghanistan's gold rush upends lives, landscapes in northeastern Badakhshan province

Per Dawn (Pakistan), Afghanistan's northeastern Badakhshan province is in the grip of a gold rush, with thousands of miners extracting riches as the Taliban government seeks to boost revenue through the country's untapped mineral wealth. But the economic gains come at a steep environmental and social cost. Farmer Muhammad Amin, seventy-four, leased his land to a mining firm and watched the river become undrinkable, the grasslands disappear, and his livestock herds collapse from forty animals to fifteen. He was promised twenty thousand dollars but received only half, with no restoration of his fields. Across the Shiwa area, entire communities have been buried under floodwater and debris—bridges, shops, and schools are gone. Provincial authorities have ordered the closure of around two hundred twenty-five damaging mining sites, yet the government continues to tax and regulate the industry, having collected one hundred twelve kilograms of gold last year as the rush expands.

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