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Afghanistan’s poppy cultivation falls by 85% under IEA rule

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Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has reportedly dropped by 85% following the return to power of the Islamic Emirate, new analysis shows.

In April last year, the IEA’s supreme leader issued a decree prohibiting poppy farming across the country. Almost 18 months later, the ban is being described by experts as “the most successful counter-narcotics effort in human history”.

Nationwide poppy cultivation is below 30,000 hectares for 2023, compared to more than 210,000 hectares in 2022, according to satellite imagery analysis from Alcis, a geographic information services company, the UK-based Telegraph reported.

Helmand, Farah and Nimroz have recorded the greatest reductions in cultivation, at 99, 95 and 91 percent respectively, Alcis said.

“There is now little doubt that farmers across vast swathes of the country abandoned opium production this year,” the analysis said.

After a year-long ban, experts are waiting to see if the IEA’s edict will last for a second season, which starts each November with the planting of poppy seeds.

“We are in uncharted waters,” said Dr David Mansfield, a UK expert on illicit economies in Afghanistan, in comments that accompanied Alcis’ analysis, the Telegraph reported.

Graeme Smith, an Afghanistan expert at Crisis Group, told the Telegraph in July that the IEA’s crackdown has so far been “the most successful counter-narcotics effort in human history, according to the volume of drugs taken off the market”.

However, Mansfield said there “is already considerable evidence that the current ban has not been uniformly accepted by the rural population or by those within the Taliban’s own ranks responsible for implementing it.”

Alcis’ analysis shows that poppy cultivation increased from 13,803 hectares to 15,391 hectares in the mountainous Badakhshan province throughout 2023. It said there has also been “persistent cultivation in the upper reaches of the mountains of southern Nangarhar”.

“When the economic impact of a ban on poppy cultivation is felt collectively across a growing population, local resistance can quickly escalate, prompting those in the districts responsible for enforcement to retreat, unwilling to impose further losses on their own families, neighbours, and communities,” said Mansfield.

It’s estimated the Taliban’s poppy ban has wiped out the equivalent of 450,000 full-time jobs in agriculture – a major hit to an economy still reeling from drought, conflict and cuts to development programmes.

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IEA to establish ministry for usurped land reclamation

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The Ministry of Justice said on Sunday that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate has issued a decree to establish a new ministry under the name of usurped land reclamation.

Currently, the work of reclamation of usurped land is being carried out by a commission.

The commission said in a press conference that 49.7 million acres of usurped land have been identified across the country, of which 3.9 million acres have been reclaimed.

Officials of the commission stated that 36 residential townships in Kabul have been assessed and decisions have been issued on 13 of them.

According to officials, people who have purchased land in illegal townships have all their rights reserved with the commission and only township owners are considered as usurpers.

They also stated that 370,000 acres of land have been allocated for the Kabul New City project and that currently, four companies are involved in this project.

 

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Sirajuddin Haqqani meets with special envoys of China and Pakistan in Kabul

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Acting Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani met with China’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, and Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special envoy, to discuss regional cooperation and diplomatic engagement.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Interior on Sunday, the meeting aimed to follow up on the outcomes of the fifth trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan, China, and Pakistan. The discussions also focused on preparations for the upcoming sixth round of talks and on deepening political and economic cooperation among the three nations.

During the meeting, Haqqani emphasized the Islamic Emirate’s commitment to fostering strong regional ties. He called for regional understanding and cooperation, especially in political and economic fields, based on mutual respect.

The Chinese and Pakistani diplomats reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to strengthening relations with Afghanistan. They also agreed that the sixth meeting of foreign ministers from the three nations will be held in Kabul.

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Afghan government employees urged to apply diplomacy when commenting about another country

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Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Sunday instructed government employees to refrain from making comments or statements that could hurt a country.

Addressing a graduation ceremony of government employees who passed a specialized diplomacy training course, Muttaqi warned that such negative comments would also harm the Islamic Emirate.

“Try to be careful with your pen. Be careful with your tongue so that no Muslim, no neighbor, no country is hurt. Avoid harming the system and yourself. Sometimes, there are shots that then come back to the hitter. You have to be very careful in this matter. Whatever you say, you have to think about whether it is permissible in Islam? Will it not end up harming another Muslim?”

Muttaqi also emphasized that Afghanistan will not progress if fundamental steps are not taken in the academic field.

“If we do not take steps in the academic field, do not educate ourselves, do not work hard, do not know about the world conditions, do not know about the customs of the homeland, do not know about our past history, we cannot build our future. We need a lot of work in our home and each department needs a professional. If you gather all the members of your family, you cannot treat a child with fever until you see a doctor. You cannot build a bulb. You cannot make clothes. Therefore, every field has its own professional and this society needs them,” he said.

Muttaqi also called on the graduates to strive to enhance their knowledge and to guide the future path of Afghanistan towards development.

 

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