Recently there has been shocking news about the expected giant investment in Afghanistan's untouched resources. The first blow came with the halt of work at the landmark $3 billion Aynak copper deposit by Chinese investors due to security threats by insurgents.
Too much hope was tied to this supposedly the largest investment in Afghanistan's history, now gripped by clouds of uncertainty. Metallurgical Group of China had announced to invest $4 billion for the mining of the copper field. The investment plan included $500 million construction of an electrical plant and a railway track from Tajikistan to Pakistan as part of the copper project. It was estimated to create over ten thousand employment opportunities for Afghans. The estimations included about $400m annual royalty to cover more than half of our current budget. But all the estimations remain in vain.
Most Chinese staff at the site of Aynak in Logar have left the country due to Taliban threats. The company has said only a skeleton crew is left behind to watch over equipment. Our officials, ridiculously say, "Insurgents have not yet killed any Chinese workers!" They fire rockets at the site. It is a major Government failure to protect it from happening. The Chinese company says conditions promised by the Afghan government in the contract had not been met. They further say resumption of work depends on Government's capacity to fulfill the conditions.
One of the blows of the decision to ban all private security companies has contributed to the suspension of work at Aynak. Security forces in the area have failed to stop several rocket attacks on the site, which raises questions to the confident yet empty claims of our Government about capabilities of security forces. There are more than 2,000 security personnel at the site with checkpoints and wider security perimeters, but rocket attacks have continued.
The Government should have insured all-out security for smooth work at Aynak. If such giant projects fail, the hopes of a financially independent Afghanistan will go in vain while instability causing our descent into chaos, particularly at a time when NATO withdrawal plans give a dim prospect for post-2014 Afghanistan.
Taliban's deadly blow of infiltration through "green-on-blue" attacks and now targeting of strategic locations show their sophisticated strategic moves in the wake of NATO withdrawal plan. Groups had been active in the area around Aynak to stop the work, and rocket attacks have become routine. But the Government must pay full attention to this and more security forces be deployed in the area to ensure security and continuation of the work.