Acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum met with UN Special Monitoring Team

Acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum Mr. Enayatullah Momand met with UN Special Monitoring Team.

The meeting discussed the involvement of terrorist groups in the extractive industries sector, their activities in mining areas and terrorist groups funding from the mining sources.

Acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Mr. Momand said that “A protection Plan has been made to manage extractive industries sector and prevent terrorist groups to benefit from the sector. We have established a Mines Protection Committee chaired by National Security Council and with the participation of Ministry of Mines and Petroleum and all security agencies. The aim of the committee is to protect Afghan Mines”.

“By establishing this committee, we were able to identify illegal excavations in 15 provinces. We are trying to convert illegal area into legal. Before issuing licenses, we carry out all the processes that help us identify contractors”, He added.

On behalf of UN Special Monitoring Team, Mr. Victor Shtonda said that extractive industries sector should be utilized for the benefit of the Afghan people. He also said that they will work with Afghan government to ensure this sector is not exploited by terrorist groups.

He also added that they will report to the UN Security Council on the problems and developments of the extractive industries sector.