News Analysis: Taliban-linked drug trade, smuggling operations fueling war in Afghan's Helmand province

The Taliban's former stronghold in the southern Helmand province has been the scene of increasing insurgency and bloody conflicts for more than a decade.

Notorious for growing poppies for the drug trade and continued militancy, the restive Helmand province has been regarded as a Taliban hotbed and the most volatile province in the conflict-ridden country where intense fighting has escalated over the past couple of weeks, as Taliban militants are attempting to besiege the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, the key city in the southern region.

Fighting between government forces and Taliban militants has claimed hundreds of lives from both sides, and has forced thousands of families to leave their homes for safer places over the past couple of years.

Taliban militants, of late, are more active in Helmand province than in any other part of the country and the armed outfit, according to locals, currently have completely controlled over five districts and have tightened their grip on nine other districts, forcing the government to send reinforcements to consolidate its positions.

More than 200 militants, according to officials, have been killed in the fight for control of Helmand in the last fortnight, and almost the same number of government forces have also lost their lives over the past two weeks, according to Taliban claims.

Taliban fighters have focused their militant efforts on controlling the strategically important Nad Ali and Marja districts over the past month and have been attempting to raise their flag in the areas.

Local analysts believed that the unchecked poppy cultivation and the production and smuggling of illicit drugs in Helmand, have been fueling the war in the restive province, along the border with Pakistan.

According to observers, mafia groups, Taliban militants and other underground organizations with vested interest in such criminal elements have all been fanning the flames of war in Helmand province to maintain the drug trade for their own profits.

"The involvement of mafia groups, the Taliban and corrupt officials in drug trafficking, as well as the smuggling of precious stones, are the main reason for the persistent instability in Helmand province," head of the Helmand Provincial Council, Karim Attal, told Xinhua.

Attal also said that mafia groups and Taliban commanders had been collaborating with corrupt officials in both smuggling and drug operations.

Political experts also were of the view that the local economy in Helmand province depends on poppy cultivation, a practice also backed by the Taliban militants.

"Contrary to the government, the Taliban militants encourage farmers to grow poppies," the analyst said, adding that the Taliban collects taxes from the trade to fund its war against the government.

Afghanistan, according to United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), produced some 3,300 tons of opium-producing poppies in 2015, with the majority of the yields harvested in Helmand and neighboring provinces.

Afghan soldiers fighting against Taliban militants in Helmand province were quoted by local media recently saying that they are running out of food and ammunition and have demanded more appropriate equipments for their frontline battles.

Meanwhile, fierce fighting, according to locals, has been continuing in Marja, Nad Ali, Gereshk, Babaji, Nawa and Nahre-e-Saraj districts over the past couple of weeks and the militants are inching closer to the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.

To lead the war against Taliban militants, ranking military officials including the deputy chief of army staff are currently in Helmand province.

A former army officer and military analyst, Khudai Noor, who formerly served in Helmand described the situation there as "fragile" and warned that "lack of coordination among more than 10,000 troops deployed in Helmand" and unchecked drug smuggling could pave the way for the total collapse of Helmand and adjoining provinces.

Allaying security concerns, however, Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri has stated that neither Helmand nor other provinces will fall to the government's enemies. Endit