Taliban restrict opium cultivation in Afghanistan

• The farmers say that the price of opium in the country has risen from $70 per kilogramme to $200 per kg.
• Afghanistan accounts for 80% of the opium production worldwide.
• Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid maintains the production of opium or other narcotics will be banned under their rule.

The Taliban, soon after taking the control of Afghanistan following a 10-day lightning strike, have restricted farmers across the country from cultivating poppy, reported Geo News Monday while citing a Washington Post article.

The group had completed their sweep across Afghanistan by taking over Kabul on August 15, which resulted into the culmination of a 20-year US-led invasion.

A news report published by the Wall Street Journal said that the Taliban made the announcements in villages and rural areas of Kandahar, restricting farmers from growing the poppy plant.

The poppy plant is used for manufacturing opium and other narcotics.

The publication states that opium prices have tripled since the Taliban ordered a halt to poppy cultivation. The farmers in opium producing provinces say that the price of opium in the country has risen from $70 per kg to $200 per kg.

Afghanistan accounts for 80% of the opium production worldwide and the drug worth about $1.5 to $3 billion is exported from Afghanistan per annum.

The Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has repeatedly maintained that the group would not allow the production of opium or other narcotics within the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan will not be a country of cultivation of opium anymore,” Mujahid said during a news conference on Aug. 17.