5 killed, 8 injured in gold mine collapse in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan

A gold mine collapse in Khash district of Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province has killed five people and injured eight others, officials said.

The Taliban Ministry of Defense confirmed that two children are among the dead following the incident in the Shahr-e Bozorg district.

According to the statement, the mine collapsed after a mountain landslide struck the Awoz area, burying a number of workers engaged in gold extraction activities.

Rescue teams said several trapped workers were pulled from the rubble, while the injured were transferred to local hospitals for treatment.

Officials have not yet provided a detailed explanation for the collapse, which adds to a pattern of frequent mining-related disasters in the country.

Mining accidents are relatively common in Afghanistan, particularly in remote regions where extraction is often carried out using basic tools and without formal safety standards or regulatory oversight.

Badakhshan is one of Afghanistan’s most mineral-rich provinces, and its Shahr-e Bozorg district has seen a sharp rise in informal gold extraction activities in recent years.

Experts say much of the mining activity in the region is carried out by small-scale or private operators working without technical supervision or state regulation, increasing operational risks.

The absence of modern mining equipment, engineering expertise, and proper safety infrastructure is widely cited as a key factor behind repeated fatal accidents in Afghanistan’s mining sector.

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