Tonnes of Chromite Daily Smuggled out of Afghanistan

Officials in the Afghan Ministry of Mines said on Monday that 400 tonnes of chromite is daily smuggled out of the country

The ministry also acknowledged that in addition to chromite, some other precious and semi-precious stones are also smuggled to one of the neigbouring countries.

In order to prevent smuggling of precious and semi-precious stones, the ministry of interior has expresssed support to provide 700 secuirty personnel for the mines all over the country, the Ministry of Mines said.

The security personnel provided by the MoI will also make sure that chromite, which can be used to produce steel, is no longer smuggled out of the country, it added.

"We expect the government to form a special security unit of 7000 personnel to esnsure mines security," said the Mines Minister, Wahidullah Shahrani.

The news comes some weeks after the work at Ainak copper mine in Logar province was halted by insecurity.

But the Ministry of Mine said the work has been resumed after 1500 security personnel were provided to ensure security of the Ainak copper mine.