SWAT VALLEY - The Taliban resurgence in Pakistan's lawless provinces and its
unhindered march towards the heartland of the restive country is fueled by an
ever increasing economic lifeline. Unlike Afghanistan's Taliban, which depends
on the poppy trade for revenues, the robustness of the Pakistan Taliban's
financial strength depends on a variety of sources, ranging from the timber
trade, precious stone mining and now, the imposition of a religious/protection
tax collected from minority religious communities.
The Islamabad administration has buckled under pressure from the Taliban,
promulgating the Nizam-e-Adl (Islamic jurisprudence) regulations in the Swat
Valley where the government has virtually
lost control. The peace agreement gives the Taliban forces a massive
opportunity to exploit the rich natural resources of Swat at will.
Before fighting broke out in Swat, one of the region's main sources of revenue
was a thriving tourist industry. Needless to say, there is no tourism in the
region now and the Taliban have dismantled tourist resorts and tourism training
facilities, auctioning off furniture, computers and building materials in
Barabandai.
The multiple sources of Taliban income make the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
a resilient and well-armed group with an agenda of turning Pakistan into an
Islamic state. Observers fear the wealth at the disposal of Taliban will enable
them to sustain their jihad activities in Pakistan and beyond.
The exploitation of northwest Pakistan's natural resources for organizational
revenues started in April 2008, when Taliban militants took over the Ziarat
marble quarry, a white marble mine in the Mohmand tribal district. Before the
arrival of the Taliban, Islamabad had planned to modernize the marble mines at
Ziarat as part of an effort to increase marble and granite exports to US$500
million per year by 2013. Roughly one million tons of marble are extracted from
the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) every year. Since the Taliban
takeover, the quarry has brought the Taliban tens of thousands of dollars.
Buoyed by this success, the TTP began eyeing the emerald deposits of Swat.
Emerald mining
Arguably, the Taliban's current strategy in the Swat region of Pakistan's
North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is to exploit all resources available to
them while the truce agreement with the Pakistan government is in force. Late
in March, reports from the Swat valley emerged that the Taliban militants had
taken control of government-controlled emerald mines located in the mountains
of Mingora.
The occupation of the Mingora mine apparently took place sometime in February
2009, following the peace deal between the provincial administration and Sufi
Muhammad, leader of the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM - Movement
for the Enforcement of Islamic Law). Taliban forces then seized the nearby
Shamozai and Gujjar Killi mines and initiated mining and trading processes on
their own, employing a large number of local laborers. Locals are eager to work
for the Taliban, who take one-third of the profits and distribute the rest to
the workers.
The Gujjar Killi emerald mine in Shangla district (NWFP) was formerly leased to
Luxury International, a US-based firm that abandoned operations when fighting
began in the area. Nearly 70 Taliban militants occupied the mine after ousting
government-appointed officials and employed local laborers on a profit sharing
basis. Locals said the Taliban had decided to occupy Gujjar Killi when the
government failed to take any action after the seizure of the Mingora mine.
Muslim Khan, spokesman for the Swat Taliban, justified the mining by saying
that “all these minerals have been created by Allah for the benefit of his
creatures”.
Mullah Fazlullah, the leader of the Swat-based Tehrik Taliban Swat, has been
largely responsible for this economic activity in the NWFP. Fazlullah, the
son-in-law of TNSM leader Sufi Muhammad, now controls these mining activities
in Swat and adjoining places. According to one report, the gemstones are sold
quickly at below market prices and smuggled to the Indian city of Jaipur
(capital of Rajasthan) and thereafter transported to Bangkok, Switzerland and
Israel. A BBC report indicated that emerald prices range from $1,000 to more
than $100,000 for a cut stone, depending on the size and quality.
Emerald mining and the international sale of gemstones through various channels
provides much needed capital for the Taliban to capture other natural resources
in the region. Most alarming is the possibility that the Taliban, which is
largely immune to any offensive for now, could target other precious stone
mines in the NWFP. Pink Topaz, Peridot, Aquamarine and Tourmaline are all
available in abundance in different parts of the province.
There are also reports that archaeological sites in the area are being looted,
with the Taliban likely taking a cut of the proceeds, either as protection
money or to encourage the continued instability that makes such looting
possible. It is feared that the Taliban will use the money made from the
excavation and sale of gemstones to finance more suicide attacks on North
Atlantic Treaty Organization forces in neighboring Afghanistan and support
Taliban expansion in Pakistan.
Timber trade
Another lucrative source of income for the Taliban is Swat's forests. The
symbiotic tie between Taliban militants and the Timber mafia in Swat and nearby
Dir is no secret. Large-scale illegal cutting of the region's pine forests
began simultaneously with the 2007 Taliban offensive in the area and the flight
of most of the people living in the forests. Taliban militants have been
involved in the widespread cutting of the thick pine forests and apple orchards
of Malam Jaba, Fatehpur, Miandam and Lalko, often in collusion with the mafia
elements that cause enormous environmental damage to the region while making
immense profits.
The Taliban has long been in control of the timber trade in the NWFP and parts
of FATA. In mid-2008, Environment Minister Hamidullah Jan Afridi pointed
towards the militant-criminal nexus in FATA and stated that the “timber mafia”
has been responsible for funding militancy in the NWFP and in FATA. The
enormity of the illegal exploitation of this state-owned natural resource can
be determined by the statement of one government official: “The losses suffered
by forests in the last year were more than the losses of the last two decades.”
The jiziya tax
Taliban financing efforts have reached the Orakzai Agency of FATA, situated
close to Swat and Bajaur Agency, the site of heavy fighting between the Taliban
and government forces in recent months. Taliban militants have demolished
houses belonging to the minority Sikh community and confiscated their property
in the Ferozkhel area of Orakzai Agency after they failed to pay the negotiated
amount of 15 million rupees (US$186,440) to the Taliban as jiziya - the
poll tax levied on non-Muslim minorities living under Islamic rule as
sanctioned by Sharia.
The houses were destroyed at the behest of Taliban commander Hakimullah Mahsud,
the Taliban head in the Orakzai Agency and a close aide of TTP chief Baitullah
Mahsud. Earlier in April, Taliban militants demanded 50 million rupees a year
as jiziya. To enforce their demands they held local Sikh leader Sardar
Saiwang Singh captive and occupied a number of Sikh-owned houses.
Many Sikhs have decided to flee Swat, followed by members of the Hindu and
Christian minorities. The situation for the Christian minority in Swat
following the imposition of a Sharia-based administration is not good and they
are reportedly living in constant fear of the Taliban, even though the TTP's
Qari Abdullah is reported to have agreed to provide equal opportunities to the
religious communities of Swat. Qari Abdullah's pledges to protect minorities
aside, pro-Taliban elements have attacked the Christian community in the
Karachi neighborhood of Surjani Town. The violence began when pro-Taliban
militants tried to prevent local Christians from removing graffiti on their
church that demanded Christians convert to Islam or give jiziya, like the Sikhs
in Orakzai.
Conclusion
Surprisingly, the Islamabad administration has so far remained silent over the
Taliban takeover of mines and the exploitation of forest resources. Pakistan is
suffering the loss of 65 billion rupees annually from the illegal timber trade
and indiscriminate deforestation alone. The plight of minority communities has
been ignored by the government.
The brief military operation against a marauding Taliban in Buner and Lower Dir
notwithstanding, the Pakistan government is largely reluctant to initiate any
major offensive in Swat against TNSM-TTP militants there. Instead of addressing
the exploitation of minorities and the indiscriminate looting of Swat's
resources, the central government seems prepared to go ahead with implementing
Islamic law in the Swat region under the Nizam-e-Adl Regulations. The
continuing decline in government authority in the region will give ample
opportunity to the Taliban to organize an exploitative but functioning
financial system.
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