Taliban using profit from emeralds sale to finance world wide terror activities

London, Apr.5 (ANI): The emerald mines in the Swat Valley which were shut down years ago, have been taken over by the Taliban to finance strikes on the allied forces in Afghanistan, and carry out terror activities across the world, The Telegraph reported.

The Taliban has once again started the mining work in two of the mines in Mingora and Shangla Districts, which it recently captured.

The outfit smuggles the precious gems to different part of the world such as India, Switzerland, and Israel to earn hefty profit.

The amount is then spent on acquiring new weapons and artillery to facilitate their war against the US led forces in the Afghanistan, and also to carry out terror attacks.

The Taliban has itself admitted that it pockets about one third of the profit earned.

"We receive one third of the profit, the rest goes to the workers," The Telegraph quoted Taliban's spokesperson Muslim Khan, as saying.

"We know that all the minerals have been created by Allah, the mighty and the merciful, for the benefit of his creatures. We should avail the opportunity," Khan added.

Widescale poverty in the region provides the Taliban an easy way to acquire cheap manpower for mining, and people here are happy that they have got a mean to earn livelihood near their home.

"I earn at least 1000 rupees per day. When I find a stone during digging, I take it to the Taliban's office here. It's weighed there and my share of the price is given to me. The mine is a blessing to poor people of the area," the newspaper quoted one of the miners Shad Ali, as saying.

Government mining officials in the area have been rendered powerless, as they fear retaliation from the Taliban if they raise their voices against the illegal mining.(ANI)