Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs says more than 11,000 operations were carried out against drug traffickers across the country over the past year, resulting in the arrest of over 13,000 individuals who were later referred to judicial authorities.

Marking International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Kabul on Thursday, officials said that during more than 25,000 poppy eradication operations, over 21,000 jeribs of land were cleared of poppy cultivation.

The ministry added that more than 7,000 drug addicts were collected from different parts of the country during the past year, while security forces also seized more than 2,000 tons of narcotics.

According to official figures, the anti-narcotics measures carried out over the past year include:

• 11,022 operations conducted against drug traffickers

• 25,764 operations launched to destroy poppy fields

• 7,844 drug addicts collected for treatment

• 2,159 tons of narcotics confiscated

• 13,326 individuals referred to courts

• 21,569 jeribs of land cleared of poppy cultivation

• 533 drug production factories destroyed

Currently, Afghanistan has 16 drug rehabilitation centers nationwide, with 12 already operational and four others in the process of becoming active.

According to officials from the Ministry of Interior Affairs Afghanistan, more than 13,000 people are currently undergoing treatment, while around 185,000 addicts have been collected for rehabilitation over the past several years.

The report comes as the Islamic Emirate highlights major progress in combating narcotics, an issue that had severely damaged Afghanistan’s reputation in previous administrations when the country was considered one of the world’s largest producers of illicit drugs.