VOA News Zsombor Peter December 12, 2023 BANGKOK — Myanmar has overtaken Afghanistan as the world’s top opium producer in 2023 after a third consecutive year of expanding cultivation fueled by the country’s civil war, the United Nations says in a new report. After more than two decades as the world’s leading supplier of opium, Afghanistan
8am: Over the past two years, local Taliban forces in Ghor province collected funds from residents, claiming it was for constructing the Ghor-Herat highway. Currently, Ghor residents express concern that these funds have been misappropriated by local Taliban officials, and there is no accountability. Residents state that, while poverty and hunger are increasing in the
By Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty December 9, 2023 Since returning to power in August 2021, Afghanistan’s Islamist Taliban rulers have showcased ambitious infrastructure and natural-resource development projects as part of a quest for self-sufficiency. The Taliban government is now digging one of the largest irrigation canals in Asia, a project that aims to revitalize
NIKKEI: A massive canal project in Afghanistan has alarmed the country’s neighbors over fears it will drain a river key to their agricultural economies, but the ruling Taliban is warning that it will press on at any cost. The fundamentalist Afghan regime inherited the long-stalled project after it retook control of the country two years
Khaama: The International Red Cross Committee states that the spread of poverty and unemployment in Afghanistan has greatly affected the lives of many people. This committee stated this issue in its recent report, updated on Thursday. Natural incidents such as droughts, floods, and earthquakes, along with the suspension of international aid and sanctions on Afghanistan’s
Khaama: The Secretary-General of Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters has rejected the Taliban’s claim about a reduction in poppy cultivation, stating that the statistics indicate an increase in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. Following the dissemination of this report and the Taliban’s claim of a significant reduction in poppy cultivation, Iranian authorities have repeatedly rejected this claim.
The Telegraph (UK): Between October 7 and October 15, Herat province in western Afghanistan was hit by four back-to-back earthquakes, each registering a magnitude of 6.3. This seismic cascade was interspersed with frequent and ongoing tremors, which have left people in “a persistent state of anxiety and fear”, the World Health Organization has said. Seven
8am: Amirabbas Lotfi, the spokesperson for the Iranian Anti-Drug Headquarters, made this announcement on Tuesday, November 28, in response to a recent United Nations report on the reduction of opium cultivation in Afghanistan, according to an ISNA report. Lotfi stated, “The income of Afghan farmers from opium cultivation in the past Gregorian year has suddenly
A 12th-century mosque and minarets from 1417 are visibly cracked, with ornate tiles falling to the ground in Herat, Afghanistan. The ancient monuments had been neglected even before Afghanistan’s severe 6.3-magnitude earthquakes in October, in which more than 1,000 people died. Now the Herat monuments are showing significant signs of damage while the Taliban government
Khaama: In its latest report, the Danish Refugee Council has highlighted that the lands in Afghanistan, where 70% of the population currently resides in rural areas, are heavily contaminated with landmines. This is particularly concerning given that 80% of the Afghan population is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. The prevalence of