KABUL (SW) – The Ministry of Interior’s counternarcotics department has said that Hebatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Islamic Emirate, has ordered a survey of poppy fields throughout Afghanistan.
This comes as a number of farmers say that due to economic problems, they have planted poppy this year as well.
Mohammad Agul, a resident of Nangarhar, says: “In the past years, we used to grow vegetables such as onions and wheat, but it was not sold properly in the market, and this year we planted poppy on our lands to solve our economic problems.”
Abdul Haq, a resident of Laghman, said he cultivated poppy due to economic problems and lack of water. “If we cultivate something else, it cannot solve our problems. We had to cultivate poppy.”
However, the officials of the Ministry of Interior, warning about poppy cultivation, say that in the current solar year, 17,85 hectares of land under poppy cultivation have been cleared.
Basmullah Habib, the deputy spokesman of the ministry, says: “According to the decree of the leader of the Islamic Emirate, the cultivation and trafficking of narcotics is prohibited in the whole country, and no one has the right to cultivate, and in this solar year, 4,210 operations were carried out to collect and destroy drugs. Narcotics have been eradicated in the country, and 17,085 hectares of land have been cleared of drug cultivation, and the Islamic Emirate intends to distribute modified seeds of alternative crops to farmers”.
It should be noted that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) previously said that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has increased by 32% compared to last year.
ENDS
