Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's governor suspends gold mining across the province and cancels all mining leases
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi on Saturday announced a province-wide suspension of gold mining and the cancellation of all mining leases, days after an attack in Kohat killed 10 police personnel returning from an operation against illegal mining. Leaseholders were given one week to remove heavy machinery or face seizure, and fines of up to Rs2 million. The governor said illegal mining was worth Rs4.92 billion a month — an allegation carried here as his claim, not as a verified figure.
Key points
- Gold mining is suspended across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and all mining leases are revoked, the governor announced on Saturday.
- Leaseholders have one week to remove heavy machinery before seizure, and fines can now reach Rs2 million.
- The move follows the killing of 10 police personnel near Kohat; the governor's claims about the scale and financing of illegal mining are allegations, not yet independently verified.
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What happened
The federal government imposed an emergency and governor's rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on 11 October 2026, citing the province's disengagement from the fight against terrorism and the deteriorating security situation; an 11-member technocratic advisory council assists the governor in running the province.
Placer gold mining along the Indus and Kabul rivers has been restricted in phases before, with district bans under Section 144 in Swabi, Nowshera, Kohat and Karak. Saturday's order is the first to suspend gold mining across the whole province and cancel every lease.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That the governor announced the suspension, the lease cancellations, the one-week machinery deadline and fines of up to Rs2 million.
- That the announcement followed an attack in Kohat in which 10 police personnel were killed, and that a judicial commission and a mining task force were announced.
What we don't know yet
- Whether the governor's figures for illegal mining — Rs4.92 billion a month and 80 percent of profits sent to Afghanistan — are accurate; no independent evidence accompanied them.
- How the suspension will be enforced across the province, and what happens to the tens of thousands of labourers the governor said work in illegal mining.
Claim by claim
Show all claims (4)
Why this label: The governor's own announcement at his Peshawar press conference, reported by Dawn and carried the same day by Geo News and Pakistan Observer; the announcement is verified by his own words.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Reported by Dawn from the same press conference and in the same terms by other Pakistani outlets covering the announcement; the attack itself is the stated trigger for the operation the governor described.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: These are the governor's allegations, made at the press conference. No independent evidence for the figures or the named individuals' involvement was published with them; the people named have not been convicted of anything in this matter.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why this label: Both positions are reported by Dawn: the JUI-F allegation is carried as that party's claim about the federal government's motive, and the governor's reply as his.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why it matters
Gold mining in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a large informal economy employing tens of thousands of people. A province-wide shutdown, enforced by seizure and much heavier fines, tests whether the governor's administration can stop extraction it links to militant financing without leaving mining communities with nothing — and whether its sweeping claims about the trade hold up.
Update history
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- Latest
Published — the suspension and lease cancellations are the governor's own announced orders; his claims about illegal mining's scale and financing are labelled as allegations.