The Ministry of Finance says it has increased the customs tariff on unprocessed minerals to 25 percent which was previously five percent.

According to the decision, the customs tariff is set at 10 percent per ton of processed mineral.

However, the officials of Afghanistan Chamber of Industries and Mines (ACIM) said Friday that they are not able to pay the customs tariffs, asking the government to reconsider this decision.

Officials of the finance ministry have added that they set this price according to the position of the country’s exports in the world markets.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s mineral exports have a special place in the global markets, including China, India, Britain, Germany, Turkey, America, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia.

In the meantime, officials of ACIM have opposed the decision made by finance ministry, saying that the Tariff Committee of the ministry should increase the tariff based on the calculation of the private sector, adding that because traders will suffer with a 20 percent tariff increase.

Moreover, Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) said that as a result of increasing the capacity of mineral processing factories in the country, Afghanistan has been able to export one million tons of minerals this year, adding that if the electricity problems of these mineral processing factories are solved, the export of processed minerals will also increase.

The Afghanistan Meteorological Department issued a flash flood warning on Thursday, stating that heavy rain and high wind gusts can be expected across a wide section of the country on Friday and Saturday.

The provinces likely to be affected are Badakhshan, Nuristan, Kunar, Laghman, Nangarhar, Kapisa, Panjshir, Takhar, Baghlan, Parwan, Bamiyan, Samangan, Kabul, Maidan Wardak, Logar, Paktia, Khost, Paktika, Ghazni, Zabul, Uruzgan, Daikundi, Ghor, Kandahar and Helmand.

According to the department, between 15 and 70 mm of rain can be expected in parts of the country over the next two days.

Thunderstorms can also be expected in some provinces, including Kabul.

On Thursday, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in a statement that in the past week – between August 11 and 15 – heavy rainfall caused floods and flash floods across several provinces across the eastern, southern, south-eastern, and central regions of Afghanistan, leading to numerous fatalities.

The latest UNOCHA report states that the number of fatalities has increased to 41 people (11 in Parwan province, 11 in Nangarhar province, and nine in Logar province), while 17 individuals were injured.

Across the impacted areas, heavy rainfall destroyed or damaged almost 790 houses (434 in Nangarhar), affecting more than 3,720 families in total.

Floods have destroyed crops, agricultural land, and the local transportation infrastructure, isolating several communities, UNOCHA stated.

A number of international humanitarian organizations are assisting the local affected population with food, emergency shelter and non-food items, as well as conducting inter-agency impact and needs assessments.

The Pak Afghan Cooperation Forum (PACF) on Thursday handed over 25 tons of food items to Afghan authorities as part of its ongoing support to the people of war-hit Afghanistan.

The truckload of the food items, arranged by the PACF, were handed over to the Afghan authorities at the Chaman crossing, app reported.

The handing-over ceremony was attended by Deputy Commissioner of Chaman Hameed Zahri and senior officers of the Afghan Foreign Office including Maulwi Waheedullah and Mullah Hikmatullah.

According to the report since the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), takeover in Afghanistan last year, Pakistan had sent over a total of 15,390 tons worth Rs2, 650 million of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.

The humanitarian assistance had been sent to Afghanistan via 83 convoys, including 743 trucks and four C-130 flights, till August 5, read the report.