Daesh eying Afghanistan's natural resources
(Minews) – Afghanistan's largely untapped natural resources have long been considered by some to be vital to rebuilding the country's conflict-affected economy.
However, this week the country’s Minister of Mines and Petroleum Dawoud Shah Saba warned there are serious barriers to exploiting them.
He told the Wolesi Jirga, parliament's lower house, that the country's persisting security problems stopped the government from exploiting the resources, which are currently mostly unprofessionally extracted and smuggled.
He also said that fighters claiming loyalty to Daesh, the militant group in control of parts of Syria and Iraq, wanted to take control of Afghanistan's resources.
“Daesh in Afghanistan is in the quest to control areas where natural resources are abundant. The terror group wants to extract the mines and finance their operations,” Saba said Monday.
The group has gradually established a presence in parts of Afghanistan, largely with former commanders from the Taliban, which it now directly competes and clashes with.
With the Taliban losing popularity and power, some Afghan analysts believe that Daesh believe mineral resources could be used to fund their attempts to make inroads in Afghanistan.
“Natural resources
Publish date : Sunday 14 June 2015 22:57
Story Code: 25308
