Kabul Warfare Idles Rich Afghan Mines

The crags above the Panjsher Valley of northeastern Afghanistan hold a fortune in emeralds, rubies and other precious gems, but there are few men to mine them.

Most of the miners have gone south to help their hometown hero, Ahmed Shah Masoud, in the struggle for power in Kabul, the nation’s capital.

Masoud, a charismatic rebel leader who became defense minister in the new Islamic government, engineered the collapse of the former Communist regime in late April and has been trying to restore order since.

Residents of the Panjsher Valley began prospecting for gems in 1983, at the height of Soviet army operations against Masoud’s forces, and there now are 25 mines. Each employs about 10 miners, when enough men can be found.

The valley’s flanks sweep up to treeless, saw-tooth peaks in shades of brown, yellow and gray, crowned with white snow. The narrow footpath to the gem deposits winds along sheer cliffs that drop hundreds of feet, sometimes thousands, in a single pitch.

“It’s a good year for mining, but there aren’t many around to help,” said Abdul Qawi, Masoud’s deputy for policing Khinch and monitoring the gem trade. “They’ve all gone to Kabul.”

One of those who stayed behind is Haji Abdul Wudood, a wiry, agile man of about 40 who makes the four-hour trek up to the Siah Qualh (Black Peak) mines twice a week.

“Don’t look down,” said Wudood, who has worked at the mines for nearly eight years. “Just keep going and keep looking up.”

For him, there was no question of following Masoud to Kabul. He has a wife and nine children, and Masoud’s troops are not guaranteed regular pay.

“I make a good living,” Wudood said. “Some years, I make as much as 5 million afghanis.” That equals about $6,000, riches in a country shattered by 14 years of civil war, where most people struggle along on 6,000 afghanis a month, or $7.

Sometimes, the mines can be as dangerous as Kabul, where firefights erupt between rival groups, and rebels on the outskirts fire rockets into the city.

Miners blast the precious stones loose from the surrounding rock with explosives culled from unexploded Soviet bombs and shells that still litter the valley.

“Three years ago, I waited for a man to run out of the hole after lighting the fuse,” Wudood said. “But he never came out, and the explosion killed him. It blew his head apart, just like the rocks, and scattered brains and blood everywhere.

“I used to light the fuses, but it’s too dangerous for me now,” he said as explosions thundered on the mountainside. “I’m too old and I can’t move fast enough.”

Collapsing tunnels and gas from the explosives also take a toll. Wudood estimates 25 miners are killed each year--one for each mine.

Western gem dealers say Panjsher emeralds are comparable to those from Colombia, but crude mining techniques destroy far more than ever reach the market. The dealers say Masoud could collect more revenue by keeping better track of the trade.

Abdul Qawi said the Supervisory Council, Masoud’s administrative and military organization, takes 10% of the trade’s gross profit of $80 million to $90 million a year.

Masoud’s men guard the mines and oversee sales. Much of the money they collect goes to buy weapons, ammunition and equipment, and to govern northeastern Afghanistan.

Gems appear to have brought prosperity.