UN Survey Finds 37% Spike in Afghan Poppy Cultivation

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
May 3, 2021

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – The United Nations said Monday that opium cultivation in conflict-ridden Afghanistan increased by 37% in 2020 compared to the previous year, potentially producing an estimated 6,300 tons of opium.

The findings are part of a new survey the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) conducted in coordination with the Afghan National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA).

The survey came two days after the United States and NATO allies formally began pulling their troops from Afghanistan, a move intended to close nearly 20 years of international military engagement in the country.

“The total area under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan was estimated at 224,000 hectares in 2020, which represents an increase of 37%, or 61,000 hectares, when compared to 2019.”

The survey noted the area under cultivation in 2020 was among the four highest ever measured in Afghanistan.

Poppy cultivation has increased in most regions of the country, with 22 out of 34 Afghan provinces growing the opium poppy last year, decreasing the number of poppy-free provinces from 13 to 12 when compared to 2019.

Afghanistan’s southwestern region, as usual, accounted for 71% of total opium production, while cultivation in the eastern region had reduced by 28%.

Southern Helmand province, which is mostly controlled or contested by Taliban insurgents, remained the country’s major opium poppy cultivating province.

U.N. officials say rule of law-related challenges such as political instability, corruption, instability, and insecurity caused by insurgency groups are among the main factors driving high levels of opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

Socioeconomic factors also impact farmers’ decisions — for example, scarce employment opportunities, lack of quality education and limited access to markets.

Surveyors used satellite imagery to estimate opium poppy yields because the coronavirus pandemic prevented them from collecting opium data in the field.

“This is a demonstration on how NSIA, together with UNODC, we are able to find innovative solutions and to overcome the challenges and still present to the international community the results of the survey,” noted Angela Me, chief of the UNODC statistics and survey section.

The COVID-19 crisis did not affect the 2020 opium season in terms of area cultivated or labor available for harvesting.

The survey, however, cautioned and expected that the economic downturn following the pandemic, in combination with increasing food prices, may lead to further increases in opium poppy cultivation in future years.

A U.S. government agency reported to U.S. Congress in January that Washington has appropriated $9 billion for counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan since 2002.

However, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said the opium economy had grown exponentially over the period, while interdiction efforts have had “only a minimal impact” on the illicit narcotics trade.

“Importantly, that trade helps fund insurgents, terrorists and criminal networks; fosters corruption; undermines public regard for the government and creates public health and social problems,” SIGAR said.

In 2017, opium production in Afghanistan increased 87% to a record 9,000 metric tons, according to the UNODC.  Afghan opiate production accounts for more than 80% of the global morphine and heroin seized.

Afghanistan to Discuss Fate of Foreign IS Prisoners with Their Countries

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ISIS trainees

Roshan Noorzai
VOA News
May 3, 2021

The Afghan government said it plans to begin talks with 14 countries to discuss what to do with hundreds of their citizens who have been captured while fighting alongside the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP).

Ahamd Zia Saraj, the head of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, National Directorate of Security (NDS), said this week that his government wanted to “find an acceptable solution to the problem.”

The foreign nationals in Afghan custody are 408 ISKP members, including 173 women and children. According to the Afghan government, 299 of them are from Pakistan, 37 from Uzbekistan, 16 from China, 13 from Tajikistan, 12 from Kyrgyzstan, five from Russia, five from Jordan, five from Indonesia, four from India, four from Iran, three from Turkey, two from Bangladesh and two from Maldives.

Abdul Wahid Taqat, a former senior intelligence official in the Afghan government, predicted a ‘difficult’ legal and political process for the repatriation of the ISKP prisoners, saying Kabul will likely need to use international bodies to convince those countries take back their citizens.

“Returning these fighters would not be easy because Afghanistan has no treaties to extradite or exchange terrorists with most of these countries,” Taqat told VOA, adding that “a reasonable option for Afghanistan is to involve the United Nations Human Commission on Human Rights to find a solution.”

Most of the countries are hesitant to take back their citizens who have joined terror groups because of legal and security risks these “dangerous individuals” pose, said Colin Clarke, a senior fellow at the Soufan Center.

Clarke, however, said that some countries will likely be more responsive to the Afghan government request.

“More authoritarian countries do not need the proof; countries that are more transparent will need it to prosecute [these individuals],” he said. He added that China has interest in taking back its citizens back because it has “inflated the threat of terrorism to justify their treatment of Uyghurs.”

Reuters reported in 2015 that the Afghan government arrested and handed over a number of Uyghur militants to China as a way to persuade China to help with convincing Pakistan to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Formidable threat 

Taqat said the Afghan government’s announcement shows that foreign fighters still have bases in the country and that their presence would remain a “formidable threat” after foreign troops leave.

The fighters “will pose a greater threat to the security and stability of Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal,” said Taqat.

The U.S. and its NATO allies have announced that they will pull out all their forces from Afghanistan by September 11.

The Islamic State branch, ISKP, was formed in January 2015 in the eastern provinces of Afghanistan and in northern Pakistan. The group has suffered major setbacks in recent years, including the loss of its key pockets of territory and the removal of its top leadership.

Despite the losses, a U.N. report in May 2020 said that ISKP still has about 2,200 armed fighters in the South Asian country and remains capable of launching different attacks.

Pakistani citizens

During the announcement Tuesday, NDS’s chief Saraj said that 299 out of 208 ISKP prisoners were Pakistani citizens because “60% of Daesh fighters are Pakistanis.”

Daesh is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.

Saraj said Aslam Farooqi, an ISKP leader and Pakistani citizen, will be turned over to Pakistani authorities only in exchange for Taliban leadership.

“We would only hand him over to Pakistan if we agree on a mutual exchange. When Pakistan hands over some Taliban leaders to us, we will think about it.”

Farooqi was arrested with a dozen other ISKP fighters in April 2020 in the southern Kandahar province.

Earlier this month, Pakistan demanded that Afghanistan hand over Farooqi to Pakistan.

“Aslam Farooqi was involved in anti-Pakistan activities in Afghanistan, he should be handed over to Pakistan for further investigation,” Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement.

Regional observers say that most of ISKP fighters were the alienated members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who joined the terror group after it was formed in 2015.

The Afghan government said that in addition to the ISKP fighters, it is holding an additional 309 foreign fighters who are affiliated with al-Qaeda and other militant groups.

Hillary Clinton warns of ‘huge consequences’ once troops withdraw

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Hillary Clinton

Ariana: Hillary Clinton has for the first time publicly voiced her disapproval with US President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. In an interview with CNN on Sunday night, Clinton said the US should be prepared for “two huge consequences”. The first, she said, is a collapse of the Afghan government and Taliban takeover, and the second would be an outpouring of refugees should civil war break out. Click here to read more (external link).

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Taliban Militants Kill 15 Government Soldiers In Attacks In Western Afghanistan

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By Radio Free Afghanistan
May 3, 2021

At least 15 Afghan government soldiers have been killed in Taliban attacks in two provinces as violence continues to rise while negotiations between the two sides aimed at ending a 20-year conflict stall.

Taj Mohammad Jahid, the governor of the western province of Farah, said on May 3 that at least seven soldiers were killed in an attack on May 2 on an army checkpoint.

According to several officials, the militants blew up an outpost in a village in the district of Bala Buluk after laying explosives underground in a tunnel they had dug from a nearby house.

The Taliban claimed the attack, saying it seized weapons from the outpost.

In the Farsi district of the northwestern province of Herat, more than 100 Taliban fighters launched an attack overnight after detonating two car bombs, officials said.

A security official in the district, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said eight members of the security forces were killed and four others were wounded during the clashes.

The latest violence came as U.S. military formally began withdrawing its remaining troops from the war-torn country on May 1.

On May 2, the Afghan Defense Ministry said that more than 100 militants were killed and more than 50 were wounded in fighting during the previous two days, without giving details of any casualties suffered by government forces.

The U.S. military on May 2 handed over Camp Antonik in the southern province of Helmand to Afghan forces. Camp Antonik will now be used by Afghan special forces that have been trained by the U.S. military and NATO.

Afghan officials said all foreign troops were being relocated to Bagram, the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan, and from there they would leave to their respective countries.

The U.S. military said it carried out a “precision strike” on May 1 after an airfield in Kandahar where it has a base “received ineffective indirect fire” that caused no damage.

The attack on the Kandahar base, which has not been claimed by any group, came as the Taliban warned that Washington had “violated” a 2020 agreement by not finishing the troop withdrawal by May 1.

That deal signed in February 2020 under the administration of ex-president Donald Trump provided for all foreign forces to be withdrawn by May 1, 2021.

Biden announced in April that the last remaining 2,500 American troops would instead be withdrawn by the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks and not by May 1.

But he said their withdrawal would start on May 1.

Since the U.S. withdrawal deal was struck the Taliban has not directly engaged foreign troops, attacking government forces instead and waging a terror campaign in urban areas.

With reporting by AFP, dpa, and tolonews.com

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036

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COVID-19: 275 New Cases, 6 Deaths Reported in Afghanistan

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Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Monday reported 275 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,911 samples tested in the last 24 hours.  The ministry reported that the cumulative total of known COVID-19 cases is 60,563, the total number of reported deaths is 2,648, and the total number of recoveries is 53,561. Click here to read more (external link).

Abdullah Says Military Exit from Afghanistan Will Embolden Taliban

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Ayesha Tanzeem
VOA News
May 2, 2021

KABUL – The U.S. and its NATO allies officially began withdrawing their remaining forces and equipment from Afghanistan on Saturday.

Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, discussed the implications for Afghanistan’s peace process and the future of the country, with VOA’s Ayesha Tanzeem.

The transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: The U.S. and NATO have started withdrawing their forces from Afghanistan. Do you fear an increase in violence?

Abdullah Abdullah: There is always a possibility of that. Should [the] Taliban choose to increase violence with the hope that they can take advantage of that situation. That’s a possibility and I hope that they are not [don’t] making that mistake.

VOA: How do you think this announcement of a withdrawal will impact your negotiations with the Taliban?

Abdullah: Natural circumstances when these sorts of situations take place and when one side thinks that because of the vacuum that the withdrawal leaves, it may be able to take advantage of that situation, that emboldens the position of the sides. The one which is more on the military term rather than peaceful means. And that’s the concern, that the Taliban position might get further emboldened. Well, as far as their excuses, or the reasons that they were giving, that it is because of the presence of the international forces, it’s ‘jihad’ against foreigners and so on and so forth, so, in three months time, perhaps in less than three months time, there will be no foreign troops on our [Afghanistan’s] soil.

VOA: What’s the status of Doha negotiations?

Abdullah: Recently, with the announcement of the withdrawal, the Taliban position has changed. Their chief negotiator has gone to Pakistan to consult with their leaders, to take directions, to shape up their position. Earlier their position was that they are going to attack the international forces.

So, as far as the Doha process is concerned, it is still important. So are other opportunities like the conference in Turkey [the Istanbul conference]. It has to be a meaningful event, and both sides have to come to an understanding to make it effective [meaningful].

VOA: The Taliban are refusing to come. Will there be an Istanbul conference if they don’t come?

Abdullah: If they don’t come to a meeting, which is supposed to be between both sides, then the conference will not take place. They haven’t said that they are not coming. They haven’t said that they are coming. That has been the problem negotiating with the Taliban all along. They always keep their position vague.

VOA: If the Istanbul conference happens, there are two competing proposals, one is yours, and one is President Ghani’s. Which one will you take to Istanbul?

Abdullah: I wouldn’t call it two competing proposals. The main elements are the same. Peaceful settlement and an end state in which you get one person one vote. There are different ideas about how to get from here to there. We can put all ideas on the table.

VOA: Are you saying you will take both proposals to Turkey?

Abdullah: I am saying the purpose of Turkey is to have some understanding ahead of time with the Taliban.

VOA: Who is doing that negotiation for that understanding?

Abdullah: The conveners. The U.N., the Qataris, the Turkish government, as well as the U.S. and other facilitators like Germany, Norway, Uzbekistan, Indonesia. These countries are also active behind the scenes.

VOA: Are there any contacts at this stage between the two official negotiation teams?

Abdullah: No.

VOA: Are there any indications of what the Taliban want?

Abdullah: They leave their positions vague. They say, “We want the establishment of an Islamic system,” but don’t explain what that means. How will the leaders be elected or selected? They want an Islamic Council. Is it elected? If elected, on what basis? They don’t share.

VOA: What is in the letter the Taliban recently sent to politicians, including you?

Abdullah: Different groups of Taliban make contact. Sometimes they send notes. The messages are mainly the same. Even in the letter, the position is very vague, and you cannot tell whether it is the position of one group or all.

VOA: Do you think the Taliban want peace?

Abdullah: I hope, and I wish. Otherwise, the war will continue.

VOA: And if negotiations fail, do you fear a civil war?

Abdullah: We cannot rule out that scenario, that the situation will get very difficult for the people and the war will continue. At this stage the Taliban have not said that they are not talking. Let’s not lose hope because it will be a worst-case scenario. So, at this stage, the whole focus should be on how to make it work [happen].

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