The Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton and Hollywood actress Jennifer Lawrence are now being linked to the Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan because of their love for blue gemstones. These semi-precious minerals called lapis lazuli are being mined in Afghanistan for over 6,500 years.
Celebrities Love Lapis Lazuli
Kate Middleton and celebrities including JLaw, Rihanna, Amy Adams and Blake Lively were all previously seen to wear jewelries featuring the blue gemstone. While they may not be aware that the stones are helping terrorism, most of the lapis came from these ancient mines in Afghanistan and so it is likely that the same goes for the ones owned by these celebrities, Celeb Dirty Laundry noted.
Taliban Earns £15 Million A Year From Lapis Lazuli
The brilliant blue lapis lazuli is a favorite among royals and celebrities alike. Now, reports say that this fascination to the semi-precious stone has been financing the Taliban forces in Afghanistan; they earn as much as £15 million a year from mining the gemstone, Daily Mail reported.
The news came after an investigative group, Global Witness, released a report titled "War in the Treasury of the People: Afghanistan, Lapis Lazuli and the Battle for Mineral Wealth," which looked into how the lapis lazuli mines might have been funding terrorist acts of the group. The report by Global Witness now calls on the international community to tag the lapis lazuli gemstones as "conflict mineral."
Stephen Carter, Afghanistan campaign leader at Global Witness, said, "These lapis mines are one of the richest assets of the Afghan people and should be driving development and prosperity. Instead, the beautiful lapis lazuli stone has become a conflict mineral. The mines provide a tiny fraction of the benefit they should, and have become a major source of conflict ad grievance, which is driving the insurgency and undermining hope for stability in Afghanistan - which could have consequences globally."
