Abdul Bashir Samim, head of Badakhshan provincial council, said on Saturday that Badakhshan mines, especially Raghistan Gold Mine has become one of the biggest financial resources for Taliban.

"After the Lajward (Lazuli) Mine, Raghistan Gold Mine is the second biggest source of revenue for Taliban. If government does not take action, the situation of bordering districts will get worse," Samim said.

Sources have said that some miners from Central Asia countries are among the Taliban and extract the gold illegally.

Meanwhile, a number of residents of Raghistan district who recently moved to Faizabad city, the capital of Badakhshan province, said that Raghistan Gold Mine is under Taliban control.

They added that Tajik insurgents, with their families, have moved to Raghistan district and that in coordination with Taliban extract gold.

"It is around two years that they have been extracting the mine and daily they extract around 1.000 Karats of gold and every Karat's value is 10.000 Afs. They also annoy the people," said Sayed Ahamd, a resident of Raghistan district who jrecently moved to Faizabad.

However, Ghulam Sakhi Ghafoori, chief of Badakhshan police rejects this and says that most parts of the gold mine are now under government control.

"Security forces in Badakhshan have had some movements and we slowly have taken preparation for operations. We will start a clearing operation in the near future," Ghafoori said.

People have voiced their concerns in this regard while Badakhshan police department said one month ago that they had cleared the insurgents from the area in a 40 day operation.

Some unofficial statistics show that Taliban earn around five million Afs monthly through extracting gold from the mine.