Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Activists and officials in the Afghan province of Herat have warned that rising numbers of children are being recruited to work as drugs mules by local trafficking networks. Street children are particularly vulnerable, amid a massive rise in addiction among minors in the western province. Afghanistan’s booming illicit narcotics industry means drugs are readily available and around 11 per cent of the population has substance abuse problems. In Herat, the influx of returning refugees from neighbouring Iran, where addiction rates are high, has also fuelled the problem. Click here to read more (external link).