Afghan Rebels Dig Up Financial Help : Guerrillas: Mining the gem-laden Panjshir Valley is helping to pay for their war effort.

Dramatic events elsewhere are drying up the money pool for Afghan guerrillas, and one group has started mining gems to finance the 12-year-old war.

The snow-covered mountains and rocky valleys of the Hindu Kush have been known for centuries as a rich source of emeralds and rubies, aquamarines and lapis, but mining has been primitive and irregular.

Guerrilla chief Ahmed Shah Masoud decided to exploit the mineral wealth of the Panjshir Valley, the largest area controlled by a single commander, to replace dwindling outside aid and pay the bills of his Islamic army.

For help, he turned to Gary Bowersox, a gemologist based in Honolulu.

Bowersox is making a survey of the valley’s deposits, using a Soviet study made in 1977, the year before a coup installed a Communist government in Kabul and the Muslim uprising began.

He said preliminary findings point to a potential in billions of dollars.

“We’re seeing crystals of a size and quality that equals or surpasses material from anywhere in the world,” he said in an interview during a monthlong visit to the Panjshir. “What we’ve found justifies a closer look.”

According to Bowersox, the valley could rival Brazil, Zambia and Colombia, the world’s leading producers, as a source of emeralds.

The richest known emerald deposits are in the Colombian jungles, but gangs of drug traffickers and bandits have interfered with the supply.

Even in the mid-1980s, during the fiercest fighting between guerrillas and the Soviet-backed Afghan army, precious stones trickled out of Afghanistan to northern Pakistan and on to other markets.

Bowersox said he would like to bring in sophisticated drilling and sorting equipment to speed the mining process and save more of the gems.

“A lot of the Afghan miners are using explosives taken from bombs and shells to blast them up,” he said. “In the process, they’re destroying a lot of valuable gemstones.”

During the nine-year Soviet military involvement in Afghanistan, the United States provided an estimated $300 million of military aid to the guerrillas. Since the Red Army withdrew in February, 1989, Washington been trying to extricate itself from what has become a political and military stalemate.

Many oil-rich Arab states that supported the Muslim guerrillas now are preoccupied with the Persian Gulf crisis that began Aug. 2, when Iraq occupied Kuwait.

Guerrilla commanders say their flow of arms, ammunition and money has nearly stopped.

Gem mining in the Panjshir is not done by Masoud’s guerrillas, but by prospectors who pay digging fees. Masoud also either collects a 10% tax on gemstones or buys them to sell on the world market.

Masoud, whose success against the Soviet army made him a folk hero, said he hoped that the gems eventually would finance his military operation. He would not be specific about profits, but said: “We’re well ahead of our expectations.”

Residents say the Panjshir Valley has been relatively free of attacks by government forces since the Soviets left. Admirers attribute that to Masoud’s military prowess, but critics claim that he made a secret deal with President Najibullah.

Taloqan, capital of Takhar province, has a population of about 50,000 and is the largest city outside government control. It is administered by an advisory council that collects taxes to run a police force, schools, clinics and a movie theater.

“If Masoud can continue to supply the level of security he has so far, this place is a lot safer than Colombia,” Bowersox said.