World | Pakistan
Sale of Swat's blood emeralds bankrolls Taliban terrorism
Thousands of emeralds are pouring into world gem markets from the Swat valley in Pakistan, sold to fund the Taliban's jihad against the West.
- By Ashfaq Yusufzai, Isambard Wilkinson, Massoud Ansari and Colin Freeman, The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2009
- Published: 22:53 April 11, 2009
- A member of a local tribal force is on patrol after four policemen were killed during clashes between Taliban militants and local tribal forces in Swat valley.
- Image Credit: EPA
Mingora/Islamabad: Thousands of emeralds are pouring into world gem markets from the Swat valley in Pakistan, sold to fund the Taliban's jihad against the West.
Militants have begun reopening lucrative emerald mines that had been closed by the government, since they took control of the poor but picturesque region in the north of the country under a controversial peace deal last month.
They are using revenue from the sale of the emeralds to help finance attacks on Nato forces in neighbouring Afghanistan, and to support their drive to extend the Sharia law, including public whippings and summary executions, into more regions of Pakistan.
Swat holds one of Asia's two largest-known deposits of high-quality emeralds. From here, the precious stones are smuggled to Jaipur, India, and transported to Bangkok, Switzerland and Israel. They are cut and polished into the lustrous gems that adorn the world's finest jewellery, and sold to customers who have no idea that the money they are spending may end up financing the Taliban.
"We receive one third of the profit, the rest goes to the workers," Muslim Khan, the Taliban spokesman in Swat, told The Sunday Telegraph.
The revelation that the Taliban are making huge profits from the emeralds will heighten fears among Pakistan's middle class. Evidence of the militants' growing stranglehold emerged last week in a gruesome video showing a 17-year-old girl screaming as she was beaten by radicals in Swat.
The unlicensed trade in the region's emeralds provides the Taliban with cash to buy weapons for their struggle against Pakistan's secular government, just as the Taliban in Afghanistan has thrived on the proceeds of opium.
Brigadier Mahmood Shah, the former chief of security for Pakistan's tribal areas, said: "The Taliban use drug money for jihad in Afghanistan. The same thing is now happening in Swat. Money from emeralds is sponsoring their so-called jihad."
The flow of precious stones promises to provide a rising stream of cash as the Taliban open more mines. Abdul Karim Shah, director of the Gems and Gemological Institute in Peshawar, estimated that the Taliban could already earn up to £2million a year from the mines now operating, with more to come as emerald deposits potentially worth billions are tapped into.
"They have engaged 1,000 people and the number is increasing," a Taliban commander said. "It is a great opportunity for the people, as there is so much poverty and unemployment here."
One of the workers, Shad Ali, 24, said: "I earn at least Rs1,000 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." He said the mine had proved a "blessing" to poor people in the area.
Mines in Pakistan and Afghanistan are thought to contain nearly 10 per cent of the world's total emerald deposits, and during the 1980s the mines of Swat yielded a quarter of a million carats of the stones — worth £ 15 million in rough, uncut form. A government mining official in the area, who is powerless to enforce the government's writ, said: "If the Taliban continue selling the emeralds they will become very strong and it will be impossible for the government to dislodge them."
It is not only the mines of the Swat Valley where militants have changed the fabric of everyday life. In more peaceful times, "stranger danger" was not something that pupils at Islamabad's Marghalla Higher Secondary School had to worry about. Today, it is uppermost in head teacher Saira Ahmad's mind every morning, as she checks for suspicious characters lurking around the building. She fears gunmen might take an entire class hostage. "There are nearly 1,000 pupils in my school, and that is a huge responsibility," said Ahmad, who asked that her name and that of her school be changed to avoid becoming a target.
"I have to come in 45 minutes before the school opens, and check around all the open areas in case there are any rogues who have sneaked into the compound. Instead of teaching, a lot of time is being consumed these days ensuring the security of my pupils." She fears a classroom might become the next target of a militant "spectacular".
The growing sense of fear has created a renewed business boom for Rajab Tonyo, an emigration consultant in Rawalpindi, who advises families seeking to move abroad.
Many were asking about Canada, Denmark and Australia, where visa restrictions are less stringent than for Britain. "Current conditions have compelled the people to look around for other options," said Tonyo. "No emigration consultant is sitting idle these days."
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