Afghanistan: The Personal Feud That's Strangling Afghanistan's Precious Mineral Trade

Nov 27, 2016 | Franz J. Marty, National Interest
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The settlement in the shadows of the mighty peaks and cliffs of the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan’s northeastern province of Badakhshan is mostly deserted. The small stone huts are crumbling, and the plastic fabrics of makeshift awnings are torn to rags. But, belying the desolate appearance of the settlement, the rocky slopes just above the encampment hold one of Afghanistan’s treasures—the world-famous mines of lapis lazuli, a semiprecious stone, that has been extracted for millennia for its mesmerizing deep blue color.