Peshawar, Pakistan Gem cutters ply their trade in Namak Mandi, the historic gem bazaar in Peshawar’s old city. For centuries, Namak Mandi has been the destination for precious and semi-precious stones from Afghanistan. Decades of war, however, are now threatening the industry. Photograph by Adnan Khan
Blood stones: Inside the dangerous world of Pakistan’s gem trade
Adnan R. Khan goes inside the world’s oldest gem market in Pakistan where he meets terrorist financiers and drug smugglers
Read Adnan R. Khan’s full report on the dangers of the Pakistan gem trade.
Adnan R. Khan has been on the ground for Maclean’s in some of the world’s most unfriendly places, from Pakistan to Iraq, writing about conflict, politics, society, and the occasional vacationing tips in Afghanistan. He claims to be based in a small cabin somewhere on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast though no one can definitively prove it.
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