The ruling Taliban has signed a deal with a Chinese company to extract oil from northern Afghanistan’s Amu Darya basin
as the radical Islamist group attempts to bolster the South Asian nation’s increasingly impoverished and isolated economy. The agreement with China’s Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co is the first major international energy extraction deal the Taliban has signed since taking control of Afghanistan in 2021.
In addition to other minerals, oil is the wealth of the Afghan people on which the economy of the country can rely,” Baradar said. According to the contract, the Chinese firm will invest up to $150 million a year, which will increase to $540 million in three years. “The project directly provides job opportunities for 3,000 Afghans,” the statement said. While no country has officially recognized the Taliban, China has substantial investment in the region.
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