PTI’s corruption exposed: Documents reveal 4,719 mining licences issued to favoured individuals

October 13, 2026

PTI’s corruption exposed: Documents reveal 4,719 mining licences issued to favoured individuals

PESHAWAR: The organized propaganda campaign launched by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on social media following the imposition of emergency rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been exposed, revealing facts about large-scale irregularities in the mining sector during its rule.

After the imposition of Governor’s Rule and the formation of an 11-member council, when PTI’s government ended in KP, its affiliated social media accounts started a coordinated negative propaganda campaign against state institutions.

According to an independent research team, PTI-linked social media accounts started a systematic campaign claiming that the emergency in the province was imposed to loot its mineral resources. To support this narrative, PTI-affiliated handlers repeatedly circulated an old video clip of the US Chargé d’Affaires talking about mineral potential in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and other parts of Pakistan.

An independent fact-check reveals that the narrative is based on mala fide intent, baseless information, and emotional provocation of the public. According to sources, before PTI came to power, the total number of mining licenses in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was less than 1000.

However, during its 13-year rule, PTI issued more than 4719 mining licenses to its favourite politicians, contractors and facilitators. These frontmen and companies ruthlessly exploited raw materials instead of producing finished or refined products.

A clear example is the hundreds of excavators operating along the Indus River, which remained involved in illegal extraction of placer gold and other rare minerals from the black sand of the Indus through companies owned by PTI ministers. If they were so sincere to KP, the fate of the province would have changed in these 13 years through these minerals, rather than their own involvement in illegal mining.

The investigative report found that all allegations by PTI regarding occupation of minerals by the Pakistan Army have also proved baseless and are a result of personal grudge and nexus with terrorists. In the entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the national institution holds only one mining license, which is a mining project operated by Frontier Works Organization (FWO) at Boyadagan.

This mine not only employs locals, but national media has also visited it multiple times to review transparency. The project has an excellent record in terms of local development and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Apart from this, the Pakistan Army has no link with minerals or their management.

It is worth mentioning that Pakistan, including KP and Balochistan, has huge mineral potential. However, the nation and local population can only benefit from this potential when some basic requirements are fulfilled. These include transparent investment, availability of skilled manpower, establishment of an effective, modern, and transparent legal and regulatory framework, production of finished and refined products instead of exporting raw material, provision of a safe and stable environment, establishment of logistics, transport, and strong supply chains, and strict implementation of environmental protection laws.

All these steps require a professional, organized, and honest strategy, not a verbal and political narrative fabricated to mislead the public and protect PTI’s long-term illegal mining exploration.

To effectively counter this propaganda at the public level, it is necessary to send journalistic teams to relevant sites to bring out reality through interviews with independent experts and the local population. According to experts and representatives, the minerals of KP and Balochistan are a trust of the nation and its people.

These minerals are being used for public welfare and will continue to be used in the future. All decisions related to these minerals will be taken in front of the public and for their welfare.

Therefore, the current narrative being built is actually a failed attempt to create unrest among the public, provoke them, and mislead them, and truth always prevails over falsehood.

It is noted that after recent political changes and the imposition of emergency in KP, a severe increase has been seen in information warfare on social media. During the current political tussle, attempts are being made to spread fabricated content against security institutions and the state by using unverified videos and wrong statistics to divert public attention from administrative reforms.