Taliban Arrest 4 Chinese Nationals For Gold Smuggling At Kabul Airport
Taliban border police arrested four Chinese nationals at Kabul Airport for attempting to smuggle 678 grams of raw gold to China, spokesperson Abidullah Farooqi announced.
The arrests highlight growing Chinese activity in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover, with increased numbers of tourists and investors drawn by the country’s resources.
France Televisions reported in January on China’s expanding economic footprint in Afghanistan, particularly in resource extraction. Afghanistan boasts reserves of copper, gold, oil, and precious stones worth over £780 billion. China has capitalised on this, restarting the Aynak copper mine and signing major oil extraction deals in the Amu Darya Basin, where production began in 2024.
Despite Taliban regulations, security remains a concern. In Takhar province’s Khwaja Bahauddin district, unidentified gunmen killed a Chinese national, though the victim’s translator and driver escaped and alerted a Taliban checkpoint, sources told Afghanistan International. In December 2022, an attack on a Kabul hotel in Shahr-e-Naw, frequented by Chinese nationals, killed 3 and injured 18.
Analysts view Afghanistan as a strategic prize for Beijing, dubbed a modern “El Dorado” for its vast untapped wealth, despite ongoing risks.
