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Afghanistan Opium Production Increased By 43%, UN Says

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(Last Updated On: October 24, 2022)

opium-jumboOpium production in Afghanistan has increased by 43% in the past one year, United Nations and Afghan government officials have said.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on Sunday that Afghan opium cultivation has increased by 10% in 2016 compared to the same time in 2015 due to favorable weather, growing insecurity and declining international support for counter-narcotic operations.

“The cultivation has increased by 10 percent this year compared to the same time in 2015 — from 183,000 hectares to 201,000 hectares,” counter-narcotics minister Salamat Azimi said today while releasing the UN report.

The report further says that no eradication took place in provinces with high levels of opium poppy cultivation due to the poor security situation in those areas, as well as logistical and financial challenges.

The volatile province of Helmand remained the country’s top poppy cultivating province, followed by Badghis, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Nangarhar and Farah provinces.

Officials worry about transferring drugs production machines from foreign countries to Afghanistan.

“Some opportunist elements have recently transferred drug production machines from outside of the country into Afghanistan which is why we have withnessed a 10 percent increase in opium cultivation,” Salamat Azimi, Afghan counter-narcotics minister, said in a joint news conference with the UN in Kabul.

General Baz Mohammad Ahmadi, deputy interior minister for the counter narcotic police, said that government forces have conducted 1,263 operations during the last seven months, in which they arrested 1,408 opium traffickers and have confiscated over 237 tons of opium.

Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of the opium which is witnessing a sharp increase in production and cultivation of the substance due to the increased insecurities, weather and declining international support for counter-narcotic operations.

Reported by: Ahmad Farshad Saleh

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Three road construction projects launched in Kabul

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(Last Updated On: April 27, 2024)

Three road construction projects worth about one billion Afghanis started in capital Kabul on Saturday.

The projects were inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

The projects are: the second phase of Kotal Khairkhane road, the first part of the Shahid square to Qasaba, and the Airport road to Gumruk.

In the inauguration ceremony, Mullah Baradar said that Kabul municipality is working hard to beautify and regulate the city, and people should cooperate with the government in protecting public benefit projects.

He directed the officials of Kabul municipality to complete the mentioned projects on time and with good quality.

The second phase of Kotel Khairkhaneh road is 2.5 kilometers long and 60 meters wide. Thie road will cost 364 million Afghanis and will be completed in 20 months.

The Shahid square-Qasaba road is 1.8 kilometers long and 45 meters wide, which will be built at a cost of 175 million Afghanis in one year.

The Airport-Gumruk road is 2.7 km long and 60 meters wide, which will be completed at a cost of 407 million Afghanis in 20 months.

The projects are funded by Kabul Municipality.

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Russian defense minister says main threat for SCO countries emanates from Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: April 27, 2024)

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said on Friday that the main threat for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members emanates from Afghanistan where international terrorist groups find shelter due to unstable and indefinite political situation.

Speaking at a meeting of the SCO defense ministers in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana, Shoygu said Washington has stepped up efforts to restore its positions in Central and South Asia that were lost after the withdrawal of coalition troops from Afghanistan, Anadolu Agency reported.

The military chief called “unacceptable” the deployment of the American military infrastructure in the region, arguing that intentions should be regarded as “a direct threat to stability in the SCO space.”

According to him, the US is trying to impose a new security system in the Asia-Pacific region for dominance.

This comes as the Islamic Emirate has repeatedly emphasized that it does not allow anyone to pose threats to any other country from Afghanistan soil.

Recently, Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid, Acting Minister of National Defense Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid said that no destructive groups including Daesh have physical presence in Afghanistan,

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IEA calls Mujahideen Victory Day ‘freedom day’

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(Last Updated On: April 27, 2024)

In a statement on the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the victory of the Mujahideen against the then communist government, the Islamic Emirate said that it is a day of freedom of the Afghan nation.

The Islamic Emirate described the coup by People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan on 27th April 1978 as a dark day in history, as a result of which the people of Afghanistan suffered severe human and financial losses.

The statement said that the Afghan nation suffered huge casualties in their 14-year struggle against the thoughts and actions of the communists, as 1.5 million people died and millions more faced various hardships.

“After 20 years of Jihad, our country was freed from another occupation and the Islamic system was established, so the Islamic Emirate will make its utmost efforts so that the fruits of decades of sacrifice and struggle of this nation are not wasted,” the statement said.

“It was the wish of the martyrs to fully implement the Islamic system in the country, and therefore, the Islamic Emirate is trying to facilitate development and prosperity under the shadow of the Islamic system in order to realize the goals of the Afghan people’s jihads,” it added.

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