Archive for the ‘Afghanistan’ Category
US drone attacks kill a dozen in Afghanistan, Yemen – Video
US drone attacks kill a dozen in Afghanistan, Yemen
US drone attacks claim more lives overseas. Two separate airstrikes have left over a dozen people dead in Afghanistan and Yemen. A US assasination drone has killed six people in Afghanistan #39;s...
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US drone attacks kill a dozen in Afghanistan, Yemen - Video
Australia’s War In Afghanistan – War & Military Documentary – Video
Australia #39;s War In Afghanistan - War Military Documentary
Australia #39;s War In Afghanistan - War Military Documentary Australia #39;s War In Afghanistan Australia #39;s military involvement Australia joined the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, following...
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Australia's War In Afghanistan - War & Military Documentary - Video
Afghanistan's Opium Harvest Sets New Record
An Afghan farmer collects raw opium as he works in a poppy field in Khogyani District of Nangarhar province in April 2013. AFP/Getty Images hide caption
An Afghan farmer collects raw opium as he works in a poppy field in Khogyani District of Nangarhar province in April 2013.
Afghanistan's opium poppy cultivation set a new record this year, according to an annual survey released by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. Total cultivation rose 7 percent, compared with last year's record figure, and potential opium production rose by 17 percent.
In 2014, more than 550,000 acres of Afghan land were cultivated that's approaching the total land area of Rhode Island.
What's causing the jump in opium cultivation?
The UNODC's director of policy analysis, Jean-Luc Lemahieu, says Afghanistan's disputed presidential election contributed to the increase in several ways:
First, the protracted election and fears that it could spark civil war paralyzed the country's economy. Investment stalled, and people moved money out of the country. Afghanistan lost an estimated $5 billion to $6 billion in economic activity. That motivated farmers to turn to the illegal economy, in particular opium.
Second, the "political economy" (shorthand for the candidates and their campaigns) required funding that was not available through the legal economy. So candidates tapped into the illicit drug economy.
Third, Afghan security forces were tasked with securing the country during the two rounds of voting, shifting their attention from eradication efforts, which fell by 63 percent this year.
Also, ongoing fighting between the Taliban and Afghan forces, which are now responsible for security in the country, prevented the government from focusing on counter-narcotics efforts though eradication in Afghanistan has never had more than a marginal impact.
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Afghanistan's Opium Harvest Sets New Record
UN survey: Afghanistan opium poppy cultivation up 7 percent in 2014
Published November 12, 2014
Nov. 11, 2014: Afghan children recite the Quran, Islam's holy book, at a local Madrassa, or seminary, in Kabul, Afghanistan(AP)
KABUL, Afghanistan Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan hit a record high this year, rising by seven percent over the 2013 figure and accounting for 90 percent of the world's heroin supply, officials and the United Nations said on Wednesday.
The U.N.'s Office on Drugs and Crime said in a report that the increased cultivation could produce 7,054 U.S. tons of opium, or 17 percent more than in 2013.
Afghanistan's Minister for Counter-Narcotics Din Mohammad Mubariz Rashidi urged countries around the world to give fresh impetus to controlling the drug's production and trade.
"The international community must fight opium drugs and poppy cultivation in Afghanistan as seriously as they fight terrorism," he said.
The area used for poppy cultivation grew to 553,500 acres, 89 percent of it in nine provinces with a significant Taliban presence, the U.N. report said. The Taliban, which have been waging war against the Afghan government since 2001, are heavily involved in poppy cultivation and opium distribution.
The report said that the wholesale price of opium was falling because of increased supply, but the value of the crop was equivalent to 4 percent of the country's GDP, which is $22 billion.
Andrey Avetisyan, the UNODC's regional representative, said that with the end of the U.S. and NATO combat mission in December, the production of opium had to be tackled if Afghanistan was to develop its post-war economy.
"Without tackling the problem of drugs seriously, no serious economic achievement is possible to develop Afghanistan," he told reporters. "To help Afghanistan with economic development, we all together have to finally seriously do something with the threat of narcotics."
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UN survey: Afghanistan opium poppy cultivation up 7 percent in 2014