Afghanistan: Taliban says Chinese nationals arrested over smuggling precious stones
Kabul: Taliban authorities have arrested five men, including two Chinese nationals, over alleged smuggling of lithium-bearing stones out of the country, media reports said on Tuesday.
In collaboration with their Afghan allies, two Chinese nationals were trying to smuggle precious stones from Afghanistan to China through Pakistan, Khaama Press reported.
Sources told the news agency that the rocks contained 30 percent lithium, extracted from Nuristan and Kunar, the two provinces sharing a border with Pakistan.
According to reports, the smugglers were arrested in Jalalabad.
Taliban intelligence personnel told Khaama Press that Chinese nationals in collaboration with their Afghan partners wanted to transport the precious stones to China via Pakistan while arrested.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.