Afghanistan International: Despite the Taliban’s official ban on poppy cultivation, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has reported a 19% increase in Afghanistan’s poppy cultivation for 2024 compared to the previous year. According to the United Nations, the Taliban have struggled to control poppy production effectively this year. Click here to read
8am: Over the past three years, the Taliban have repeatedly claimed to have eradicated drugs and tobacco in the country. However, findings from Herat province by Hasht-e Subh Daily reveal an increase in the buying and selling of hashish, with the market for hashish sellers thriving. This is despite a decree by Hibatullah Akhundzada banning
VOA News Ayaz Gul July 26, 2024 ISLAMABAD — New research suggests that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan will drop to record-low levels in 2024, due to the ban on the crop imposed by the Taliban government two years ago. The findings, released this week by Alcis, a geospatial analytics firm, are based on high-resolution satellite mapping
Hindustan Times: Afghanistan continues to have massive stockpiles of opium that can be used to meet the needs of narcotics trafficking networks despite a ban imposed by the Taliban on poppy cultivation, according to a new report by the United Nations Security Council. A majority of drugs trafficked to India comes from Afghanistan, and Pakistan’s
By Rahim Gul Sarwan, Anne Ball VOA News June 27, 2024 WASHINGTON — Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan was down sharply last year, according to the United Nations and private sources, but the plants are being grown in most provinces despite a ban imposed by the Taliban. Some areas grow more than others. According to sources
Afghanistan International: Local sources confirmed that Taliban fighters clashed with residents in Khash district of Badakhshan province on Wednesday. The conflict erupted due to the eradication of poppy cultivation in the province. Sources told Afghanistan International that several local residents were injured in the clash, and the Taliban fighters fled the scene. The clash occurred
Afghanistan International:Iraj Kakavand, the head of Iran’s anti-narcotics police, debunked the Taliban’s claims of diminishing drug production in Afghanistan by revealing the seizure of over 662 tons of various drugs within Iran in 2023 and the early months of 2024. Speaking at the BRICS Anti-Drug Working Group meeting in Moscow on Thursday, Kakavand highlighted the
Ayaz Gul VOA News May 5, 2024 ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s hardline Taliban leaders have threatened to militarily suppress unprecedented violent public protests in a northeastern border region against a nationwide ban on poppy cultivation. The unrest erupted last Friday when the Taliban’s anti-narcotics forces began destroying poppy fields in Badakhshan province, prompting angry farmers to resist
Afghanistan International: Mohammad Reza Kazemi, Iran’s Deputy Head of the Drug Control Headquarters, said that there is still no documented evidence of a reduction in drug production in Afghanistan. Kazemi pointed out that the activities of smugglers in the region indicate that there hasn’t been any significant decrease in drug production. In April 2022, the
Tolo News: The head of Tajikistan’s Drug Control Agency stated that drugs from the large reserves in northern Afghanistan are being trafficked to Central Asian countries and the European Union. “The threat to Central Asian countries, especially those bordering Afghanistan, is gradually increasing because the methamphetamine discovered in the region is produced in Afghanistan,” said