The Taliban on Sunday announced a ban on growing poppies used to make heroin, a move seen as shattering global approval while threatening farmers’ livelihoods.
The order also prohibits the manufacture, use and transit of other narcotics.
“In accordance with the decree of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, all Afghans are informed that from now on the cultivation of poppies is strictly prohibited throughout the country,” Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada reportedly said at a news conference Sunday.
Akhundzada’s order warned, “If anyone violates the decree, the crops will be destroyed immediately and the violator will be dealt with under Sharia law.”
Amid the Taliban’s quest for international recognition since their takeover of Kabul in August, foreign leaders have encouraged the Taliban to control drugs in Afghanistan, which is the world’s largest producer of opium.
But with the Afghan economy on the brink of collapse, the ban could push already impoverished farmers into even worse conditions.
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A 2021 UN report said opiate revenue in Afghanistan ranged from $1.8 billion to $2.7 billion, noting that “much larger sums are lost along illicit drug supply chains outside of Afghanistan attack”.
The report added that in 2020, Afghanistan accounted for around 85 percent of global opium production and supplied 80 percent of all global opium consumers.
Towards the end of their last rule over Afghanistan around 2000, the Taliban banned poppy cultivation, also in an attempt to gain international legitimacy.
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