Taliban’s Claim of Reduced Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan Questioned

Mawlawi Sadrazam Osmani, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock under the Taliban regime, has claimed that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has reached zero under the group’s control. During a meeting with the head of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) in Kabul, Osmani called for cooperation from countries and aid organizations to provide alternatives to poppy cultivation for farmers. However, local sources in Helmand and Iranian officials have questioned the Taliban’s claims regarding the reduction of drug production in Afghanistan. Abdul Salam Hanafi, the economic deputy of the Taliban’s prime minister’s office, has also acknowledged that in the past 20 years, five million people in Afghanistan have become addicted to drugs.

Last Thursday, Iraj Kakavand, the head of Iran’s anti-narcotics police, called the Taliban’s claim about the reduction of drug production in Afghanistan “baseless”.