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
Reuters: Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, selling for as much as $1,200-$1,800 a kilogram, and has long been seen as an alternative crop to opium poppies for poor farmers in a country struggling with the legacy of decades of war and lawlessness. So far, it has had little impact on the opium
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 10, 2016 The U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe says it had obtained information about possible attacks on large public gatherings in Tajikistan and its border crossings with Afghanistan. The embassy said in a statement on November 10 that “terrorist groups” may carry out attacks, but did not name them. It urged
Press TV October 23, 2016 Afghanistan’s cultivation of opium poppy for drugs has risen to its third-highest level in more than 20 years, says a United Nations (UN) agency, as the Taliban militants regain ground in the country. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on Sunday that the total area of land
1TV: “The situation on the territory between India and Russia remains tense. In particular, the developments in Afghanistan still raise concern. Decisive actions are required to help that country in dealing with such challenges and threats as terrorism, extremism, and illicit drug trafficking,” Putin said, Sputnik reported. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News October 12, 2016 ISLAMABAD — Afghan Taliban appear to be facing financial pressure since the death of their former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was more adept at managing money, according to the spokesman of NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. “The evidence we’ve seen of that is an increase in their
Reuters: VIENNA — Opium production in Afghanistan increased this year to one of the highest levels on record as efforts to eradicate the crop in a country that provides much of the world’s heroin collapsed, the United Nations said Wednesday. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports annually on opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, and
KABUL, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) — A senior Afghan official called for joint efforts of the international community to fight against drugs on Monday. “Combating drug problems and getting rid of the menace to the society which is essential for ensuring public health, human rights and sustainable development requires collective efforts,” Salamat Azimi, the Afghan Minister
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 22, 2016 Around 100 U.S. troops in Afghanistan have been deployed to a southern city at risk of falling to the Taliban. The spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan said the soldiers had arrived in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province, to provide training and support to Afghan forces.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR): “My husband was not only smoking heroin but also stealing others people’s things,” she told IWPR, adding that he had also taken all the money she earned as a seamstress and sold all their household goods. “Then people started coming to our home and asked me to pay for what