Government efforts fail in Counter Narcotics: Abdullah

The chief of executive officer, Abdullah Abdullah in Washington said that Afghanistan’s efforts failed in counter narcotics.

CEO was said to consider this phenomenon a big challenge against Afghanistan and said emphasized that terrorist groups have links with drug mafias.

“We were optimistic that we will replace other things instead of puppy cultivation and fight against drug smugglers but unfortunately this phenomenon has spread.” Abdullah said.

The failure to address Afghanistan’s opium production is not surprising. About 60 years of Asian opium bans have demonstrated that drug supply reduction is very rarely effective and, in fact, is most often counterproductive.

In Afghanistan, opium poppy cultivation has expanded from 82,000 hectares in 2000 to 193,000 hectares in 2007 when the country’s 8,200 tonnes of opium amounted to 93 per cent of global illicit opium production.

Preveiously, a US report said that opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan hit record levels in 2013 despite counter-narcotics efforts by Washington.

The special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction said the US had spent $7.6bn (£4.72bn) over 13 years trying to eradicate the plant.

Increasing opium production in Afghanistan is startling, but it is not an excuse for the U.S. to give up on its counter-drug initiatives in the country.

Rather, it is a reminder that there is no silver bullet or quick solution to Afghanistan’s drug trafficking problem.

Addressing the country’s counternarcotics challenges will require long-term commitment from the U.S., private-sector willingness to invest in opium alternatives, and political will from the Afghan government to recalibrate its drug policy.

Meanwhile, Abdullah in relation to peace talks said that Afghan government has not negotiated with Taliban so far but announced the tendency of some extremist groups for peace talks.

Earlier, a top Afghan official has said that there is no pre-condition in Peace Talks between Afghan government and the armed Taliban group and Afghanistan discussed with Pakistan to bring Taliban to negotiation table.