More than two months after the attack that took place during the night of 4-5 June, which killed 132 people, Solhan has still not fully recovered. This town of 10,000 inhabitants (including 7,000 gold miners, according to local authorities) – located about 15km from Sebba, the capital of the north-eastern province of Yagha – has become the target for gold smuggling by two rival groups: the Islamic State (IS) and the Groupe de Soutien à l’Islam et aux Musulmans (GSIM, affiliated with Al-Qaeda).
Gold panning is one of the sectors of the economy through which these organisations finance themselves.
Many experts see a correlation between insecurity and the country’s gold boom, which is attracting growing interest. In the north, east, west and south-west, insecurity goes hand in hand with the proliferation of gold mining, smuggling and trafficking of all kinds.
“Gold panning is one of the
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