Afghan coal sold to companies linked to Pakistan Army: Report

Kabul [Afghanistan], July 11 (ANI): Afghanistan exported 10,000 tonnes of coal to Pakistan in the past two months, a local media report said on Monday, adding that the majority of coal was bought by companies connected to the Pakistan military.
This comes as the price of Afghan coal has recently seen a significant surge, following an increase in coal exports to Pakistan.
The coal, which now stands at more than 16,500 Afs per tonne, is being sold to three Pakistani companies connected to Pakistan Army namely Fauji Fertilizer Power Station, Cherat Cement Factory and Lucky Cement and Coal, TOLO news reported.
"Only at this company over the past two months, 10,000 tonnes of coal have been exported to Pakistan, representatives of Fauji Fertilizer Power Station, Cherat Cement Factory and Lucky Cement and Coal come here and purchase it," said Mirwais Mali, a manager at a coal company in Afghanistan.
"The majority of our clients are the companies of Fauji Fertilizer Power Station, Cherat Cement Factory and Lucky Cement and Coal. They purchase it with less money," said Abdullah, an official of an Afghan coal company.
Afghan economist Sayed Masoud said that the companies mentioned by the owners of the coal factories are connected to the Pakistan military.
"Currently, these cement factories are operating with coal, the companies of Fauji Fertilizer Power Station, Cherat Cement Factory and Lucky Cement and Coal, are the three major cement companies which are supported by the Pakistani military. I think the high volume and quick rate of export is due to military pressure," he said.
The Taliban-led the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum said that it sells the coal to Afghan companies.
"When we provide the coal to the private companies and they take it out of Afghanistan, we don't interfere about which country they sell it to, with which price they sell it, and even with which currency they sell it. But we sell it with Afghan currency inside Afghanistan," said Ismatullah Burhan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum.
Over the past several weeks, fighting has been ongoing in the remote Balkhab district in the Sar-e-Pul province that is home to five operational coal mines as well as to one of the world's largest copper reserves.
"Coal extraction had long been ongoing but started spiking three months ago, with dozens of heavily loaded trucks navigating the rough mountain terrain to Kabul every day before heading east to Pakistan, where most of the coal is sold," wrote Stefanie Glinski for the Foreign Policy Magazine.
According to Glinski, Afghan coal exports to its neighbour have surged since Indonesia, a big exporter of the type of thermal coal used in power plants, imposed an export ban earlier this year due to a domestic supply crunch. (ANI)