By Mursaleen Arsala and Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty October 18, 2022 In the spring, the Taliban announced a ban on the cultivation, trafficking, and use of illicit narcotics in Afghanistan, the world’s biggest producer of opium. But as the fall planting season for opium crops begins, the militant group appears to be turning
Daily Beast: “Noorzai isn’t the first drug smuggler the US [had] released; about 50 other drug traffickers were released after the Doha deal, but he is certainly the most prominent,” the official said. “All of them [released prisoners] have gone back to their narcotic business again, as will Noorzai. The Taliban continue to depend on
8am: Local sources in Ghazni report that on Friday, September 23, the Taliban started destroying poppy fields in the Gilan district of this province, while they had already collected the crops two weeks ago. According to sources, the local Taliban are involved in the planting, production, and trafficking of narcotics, and have dramatically destroyed harvested
Modern Diplomacy: After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, the Afghan state and the public rapidly declined. The country’s territories have become the source of international terrorism and many global problems. In addition to the economic decline, there has been a rise in drug production in Afghanistan. Drugs are one of the Taliban’s main income
8am: Taliban officials have called the release of Haji Bashir Ahmad Noorzai, known as Haji Bashar, as a sign of American goodwill and a “new chapter in the relations” between the Taliban and the United States. Haji Bashar is known in the media and political circles as the godfather of Afghanistan’s drug mafia. It is
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 19, 2022 ISLAMABAD — The Taliban Monday freed Mark Frerichs, the only American hostage remaining in Afghanistan, in exchange for a Taliban drug lord, Bashir Noorzai, who was serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison. Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told reporters in Kabul the prisoner swap between his
Akmal Dawi VOA News September 9, 2022 Unlike his predecessor, who almost terminated opium production in Afghanistan in the last year of Taliban rule with one decree in 2000, the current supreme leader of the Taliban appears to be unsuccessful in implementing his ban on opium production. In April, shortly after Afghan famers harvested opium
8am: According to residents, Pas Hesar area in the 1st security district of Ghazni city has become one of the safe havens for drug addicts. Since the Taliban regime came to power in August last year, the number of drug addicts has increased in Afghanistan compared to last year. Click here to read more (external
8am: Civil activists in Samangan province voice their deep concerns over the selling of drugs by young boys in the province who are being employed to do so by the criminal gangs. Samiullah Samangani, a civil activist for the province, told Hasht-e Subh on Saturday that the selling drugs by criminal gangs have increased in
8am: Sources report the killing of two drug addicts by the Taliban in Joy Shir area of Kabul city. On Wednesday, sources said that Taliban fighters first beat up two addicts and then one of the Taliban fighters hit one of the addicts with a knife and when the addict ran away, the Taliban fighter