Interview: Afghan gov't determined to fight illicit drugs and trafficking: official

The government of Afghanistan is determined to continue its war against the illicit drugs and also committed to addressing this growing challenge, a spokesman for the country's Ministry of Counter-Narcotics said. "Our assessments indicate that the cultivation of poppy and production of opium may go up in 2015 but the government and people of Afghanistan are committed to address this growing challenge and fighting against the menace tooth and nail," Hanif Danishyar told Xinhua in a recent interview.

On Wednesday, in the latest efforts to curb the drugs, the Anti- Narcotic Police Force of Afghan Interior Ministry uncovered and seized 374 kg heroin in Behsud district of the eastern Nangarhar province, the spokesman confirmed Thursday.

The seizure took place two days before the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking which falls on Friday, June 26.

When asked about the drug situation in the country in 2015, the official said that"so far no statistic was released by the ministry". "Our poppy eradication campaign is going on across the country. Our special Anti-Narcotic Police Force has destroyed more than 4, 300 hectares of poppy land this year. The process is going on in northern Badakhshan province as we speak right now," Danishyar said.

However, local media reports said that poppy eradication campaigns were less active in restive provinces where Taliban militant group is active.

Last year, the cultivation of the opium poppy was increased as the area under cultivation had risen to 224,000 hectares from the 2013 total of 209,000 hectares, higher than the peak of 193,000 hectares in 2007, the official asserted. "A sensible method to drug control must be mainstreamed into development, peace and security efforts in Afghanistan. As you know, the drug cultivation has direct link to the insecurity," Danishyar noted.

Last year, about 90 percent of poppy cultivation was concentrated in the southern and western provinces where security problems and organized crimes are rampant. "The statistics showed that nearly 90 percent of poppy cultivation took place in the restive provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan as well as the western Farah province," Danishyar said.

The insurgency-hit Afghanistan reportedly produces about 90 percent of the world's opium, the raw material used in manufacturing heroin.

The potential opium production was estimated at 6,400 tons in 2014, an increase of 17 percent from its 2013 level of 5,500 metric tons, said the counter-narcotics ministry's spokesman.

More than 3 million Afghans including men, women and even children, according to officials, have been addicted to drug and the number is rising. "Despite government campaigns against illicit drugs, poppy cultivation and drug production seems growing in 2015. I think the strategy in fight against the drug needs to be reconsidered," Chaman Shah Etemadi, a lawmaker from eastern Ghazni province, told Xinhua. "The cultivation, trafficking and use of illicit drugs remain critical challenge, causing significant social, economic and political problems," Etemadi, a member of counter-narcotics commission in Afghan Wolesi Jirga or Lower House of parliament, said.

The farmers in remote areas are forced to cultivate poppy. They are criticizing the government for failing to provide them with alternative means of livelihood, he said. "Afghanistan will fail in the war against the drugs unless and until the government ensures security, controls unemployment, and alleviates poverty in the country," Etemadi asserted. Endi