Taliban pulling in $800 million from marble and gem business

Thought the taliban only got money from the heroin trade? Times of India

ISLAMABAD: A major chunk of the whopping USD 800 million of annual illegal trade in gems, timber and marbles may be sustaining the activities of
Taliban in Pakistan's restive north-west, a media report said on Monday.

"It is not possible to put a definitive figure on how much the Taliban are making from their excursion into economic activity, but the government estimates that it is losing 65 billion rupees annually from the illegal timber trade and indiscriminate deforestation alone," The News said in its editorial 'Funding Terror' today.

Marble was their first target, starting in April 2008 when they took over the Ziarat marble quarry in Mohmand. [...]

The emerald mines of Swat were next. By late March of this year reports began to be confirmed that militants had taken control of government controlled emerald mines located in the mountains of Mingora. Swat is also0 rich in timber.