As the US pulls out
of Afghanistan, the latest Opium War is coming to an end. Helmand
Province, the most prolific opium growing region in the world, has been the epicenter
of the conflict for the last 20 years.
Afghanistan: How much opium is produced and what's the Taliban's record?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58308494
25 Aug 2021
Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Its opium harvest accounts for more than 80% of the world's supply. In 2018 the UNODC estimated opium production contributed up to 11% of the country's economy. What has the Taliban said it will do about opium? Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said: "When we were in power before there was no production of drugs. We will bring opium cultivation to zero again."
Afghan president
blames ‘hasty’ US troop withdrawal for worsening violence
02 Aug 2021
Fighting raged in Lashkar Gah, Helmand’s provincial capital, where the Taliban launched coordinated attacks on the city center and its prison. For years, Helmand was the centerpiece of the US and British military campaign in Afghanistan, only for it to slip deeper into instability. The province was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting between foreign forces and the Taliban over the years when tens of thousands of troops poured in for the former US president Barack Obama’s surge. The vast poppy fields in the provinces provide the lion’s share of the opium for the international heroin trade.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54522304
13 Oct 2020
Thousands of families are fleeing their homes as heavy fighting between government forces and the Taliban rages in Afghanistan's Helmand province. It is the third day of violent clashes as Afghan forces try to defend the strategic capital of the province, Lashkar Gah, from a Taliban assault. The Taliban's push in the strategic southern province of Helmand is again testing the strength of Afghan forces, as well as the US's commitment to its ally, only months after the US and the Taliban signed their own agreement. US warplanes are striking again, day after day, as the Taliban continue their attack.
Afghan conflict: US
conducts first air strike on Taliban since deal
04 Mar 2020
The US military has conducted an air strike against Taliban fighters in
Afghanistan, just hours after President Donald Trump said he had had a
"very good talk" with a leader of the group. The US signed a deal
with the Taliban on Saturday aimed at bringing peace to Afghanistan after years
of war. But a US forces spokesman said it launched an air strike on Wednesday
in response to Taliban fighters attacking Afghan forces in Helmand province. On
Tuesday, the Taliban had launched 43 attacks on checkpoints belonging to Afghan
forces in Helmand.
25 Apr 2019
The US has spent $1.5m a day since
2001 fighting the opium war in Afghanistan. Opium is woven deeply into the
fabric of the conflict in Afghanistan, now the longest war in American history.
Growing opium is a very serious crime in Afghanistan, punishable with death,
yet here was a policeman welcoming a BBC reporter to a poppy field at the
height of the harvest. So why is business still booming? In 2016, I travelled
to an opium farm in what was supposed to be a government-controlled area. The
farmers did not feel any need to try and disguise what they were growing, as
thousands of swollen opium poppy heads nodded cheerfully in a field just half
an hour from Mazar-e-Sharif airport, and right beside the main road. When US
and British forces invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 poppies were grown on
around 74,000 hectares - 285 square miles. Production had increased more than
four-fold in 15 years: now opium was being grown on 328,000 hectares - 1,266
square miles. Afghanistan is by far the biggest producer of opium in the world.
According to the US military, 90% of the world's heroin is made from opium
grown in Afghanistan.
Trump urged to declare national emergency over opioid crisis
01 Aug 2017
President Donald Trump's commission
to tackle opioid drug abuse is urging him to declare a national emergency.
“With approximately 142 Americans dying every day, America is enduring a death
toll equal to September 11th every three weeks", the authors write. One
third of Americans were prescribed opioids in 2015. A doctor in the state of
Indiana was shot and killed by the husband of his female patient after refusing
to prescribe her opioids for her pain. Patients who are no longer receiving
opioids as medication sometimes turn to street drugs such as heroin, which in many
cities is cheaper than beer. Heroin, police officers find, is often laced with
fentanyl, a powerful opioid that has been blamed for many overdose deaths.
Iran's drug problem: Addicts 'more than double' in six years
25 Jun 2017
The number of people suffering from
drug addiction in Iran has more than doubled in the last six years. Opium, the
main ingredient in heroin, is the country's most popular narcotic, making up
67% of consumption. Production of the drug in neighboring Afghanistan has risen
in recent years, producing some 90% of the world's opium. Opium production
surged in Afghanistan after the US and its allies sent military forces into the
country in 2001. Iran is a major transit point for Afghan-produced opiates
heading to Europe.
'It feels like
Groundhog Day': US Marines return to Helmand province
30 Apr 2017
“It feels like Groundhog Day,” said
Staff Sergeant Robin Spotts, on his third Helmand deployment. About half of the
300 Marines who have arrived over the past two weeks have served in Helmand
before. The situation now is worse than when they left. Of the province’s 14
districts, only two are firmly under government control. The Taliban are
stronger in Helmand than anywhere else. About 350 US Marines have been killed
in the province.
Colossal Bomb MOAB Targets Afghan Islamic State Stronghold in Top Opium-Producing Region
14 Apr 2017
The U.S. military may have
eradicated opium poppy crops when it dropped the “mother of all bombs” on
Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadists in the Achin district of Nangarhar province
in eastern Afghanistan. The 21,600-pound bomb has the capability of demolishing
everything within 1 square mile. Nangarhar province, located along the Pakistan
border, is one of the top poppy-producing areas in Afghanistan, the world’s
leading supplier of opium and its heroin derivative. Achin is one of the main
opium-producing districts within Nangarhar.
Afghanistan opium
production up 43% - UN drugs watchdog
23 Oct 2016
Opium production in Afghanistan has
increased by 43% in the past year, United Nations officials have said. The area
used to farm the poppy plant, the source of opium, increased by 10% to 201,000
hectares. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of the substance, which
is the main ingredient in heroin.
100 U.S. troops
deploy to troubled Helmand capital
22 Aug 2016
American troops have been deployed
to a southern Afghan city at risk of falling to the Taliban. Brig. Gen. Charles
Cleveland said the troops had arrived in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand
province, to provide training and support to Afghan forces. He said they would
serve as a "new presence to assist the police zone". The Taliban have
seized a number of nearby districts in recent weeks and now threaten to overrun
the city itself. Helmand's annual $3 billion opium crop produces most of the
world's heroin.
Battle for Helmand
displaces thousands
12 Aug 20167
Intense fighting in Afghanistan's
Helmand province is driving thousands of people from their homes. Most flee to
the provincial capital Lashkar Gah which has been targeted by Taliban fighters
for months. The Afghan government has flown in special forces, repelling some
of the attacks. But the situation remains precarious in a province where UK
forces were in charge of security until 2014.
The opium farmers
with the police on their side
29 May 2016
This year, Afghanistan is expected
to produce more opium than the world consumes. Although billions of dollars
have been spent trying to eradicate the crop, in some places the trade seems
more institutionalized than ever, with local police openly supporting farmers.
Clashes erupt in north Myanmar over opium poppy fields
25 Feb 2016
Clashes have erupted in northern
Myanmar between farmers and Christian anti-drug vigilantes attempting to
destroy opium poppy fields. Myanmar is the world's second largest producer of
opium. Myanmar has promised to eradicate opium production, but
growing and smuggling the drug remains a key source of income for farmers,
rebel groups, militia and the Burmese army. Over the last decade commercial
poppy production has taken hold in Myanmar, with demand from China, but also
Australia and Japan, helping to fuel this trend. Until the end of the 20th
Century, Myanmar, which was part of the so-called "Golden Triangle"
with neighboring Laos and Thailand, was the largest supplier of opium. The
region was then overtaken by Afghanistan.
Afghanistan conflict: US casualties on special forces mission
05 Jan 2016
One US service member has been killed and two wounded reportedly during a special forces mission in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province. Helmand has long been a stronghold of the Taliban.
Afghanistan Taliban 'push further' into Helmand town of Sangin
23 Dec 2015
Afghan government forces have lost
control of the center of the town of Sangin in Helmand province after days of
fierce fighting. The Taliban say their fighters have seized the entire district
and that their flag is flying over Sangin. Sangin is a strategically placed
market town in the southern Helmand province and a rich opium production center. It was a key focus of Nato's
involvement in Afghanistan. Of the 456 UK military deaths in Afghanistan from
2001 to 2015, almost a quarter were killed in and around Sangin. Helmand
province has been a major center of the Taliban insurgency.
China's drug habit fuels return of the Golden Triangle
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34268572
17 Sep 2015
Myanmar production of opium is
soaring and the East Asian country, once part of the fabled Golden Triangle
with neighboring Laos and Thailand, is the second largest producer in the
world. Since 2006 opium production has nearly tripled in Myanmar. It now
accounts for almost 25% of the world's total production. The single biggesdriver is the growth of demand in China.
US unveils $5m drive
to combat rise in heroin abuse
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-3396483217 Aug 2015
The US government is launching a
$5m (£3.2m) initiative to combat the use and trafficking of heroin. Fifteen
states on the east coast will be targeted. The move comes in response to a
sharp increase in the number of heroin cases in the US over the last decade.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported last month a
rise in the number of users by 63% between 2002 and 2013.
20 Jul 2015
It is more than six months since
British troops left Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. The Taliban now
control much of the north of the province, and Helmand continues to be one of
the main areas for the illegal production of poppies. The United Nations
forecasts another record harvest of opium poppies in Afghanistan - the raw
material for heroin - with Helmand again providing most of the crop.
Heroin use jumps in
US as painkiller addicts switch drugs
08 Jul 2015
Heroin use in the US has surged in
the past decade as experts say people using opioid painkillers are increasingly
turning to heroin as a cheaper high. The number of heroin users rose by 63%
between 2002 and 2013, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
reported on Tuesday. Use among white Americans was mostly responsible for the
jump. However, the report found increases among people of all income levels and
most age groups. Over 8,000 people died from a heroin-involved overdose in
2013, nearly twice the number of deaths seen just two years earlier. The amount
of heroin being brought into the US has also increased, driving down the cost
of the street drug.
Afghanistan opium harvest at record high as Nato withdraws
12 Nov 2014
Cultivation of opium poppies in
Afghanistan has hit new records this year as Nato pulls out combat troops. Opium
production was up by 17% since last year. Most poppies are still grown in
southern Helmand province, where British troops were stationed until October.
One of the reasons British troops were sent to Helmand was to help cut opium
production. Cultivation has been rising yearly since 2010. Afghanistan
currently produces more than 80% of the world's opium.
Afghanistan opium harvest at record high as Nato withdraws
12 Nov 2014
Cultivation of opium poppies in
Afghanistan has hit new records this year as Nato pulls out combat troops. Opium
production was up by 17% since last year. Most poppies are still grown in
southern Helmand province, where British troops were stationed until October.
One of the reasons British troops were sent to Helmand was to help cut opium
production. Cultivation has been rising yearly since 2010. Afghanistan
currently produces more than 80% of the world's opium.
Afghan troops battle
mass Taliban assault in Helmand
25 Jun 2014
Five days of clashes in Sangin
district in Helmand province left 35 civilians and at least 21 Afghan troops
dead. Tribal elders in the area say over 2,000 families have been displaced.
Three US soldiers died just last week in an explosion in Helmand. There is no
independent confirmation of the number of dead. The militants said on Tuesday
that only two of their fighters had been killed and that more than 40 soldiers
had died. Afghan intelligence officials in the area say the insurgents launched
the attack so that drug dealers could smuggle opium and heroin from the
district towards the Iranian border.
Opium production
jumps near British base in Afghanistan
20 Mar 2014
The opium-growing area around
Britain's main base in Afghanistan nearly quadrupled between 2011 and 2013, the
UK government has said, in the district nearest Camp Bastion in Helmand
province. Helmand is the largest opium-producing province in Afghanistan.
British troops are in the process of withdrawing from Afghanistan. Military
forces and Foreign Office staff are due to leave the country by the end of
2014, with the only remaining British presence at a military academy in Kabul.
UN: Burma opium
production rises again
18 Dec 2013
Opium production has risen
significantly in Burma this year, the UN says. It is the seventh annual rise in
a row and keeps Burma as the world's second-largest grower after Afghanistan.
The increase represented a 26% rise year on year. Production was concentrated
in two areas - Shan State, which accounted for 92% of cultivation, and Kachin
State, the UN said. Both are border areas which have for years been hit by
fighting linked to ethnic minority groups seeking greater autonomy.
Afghanistan opium
harvest at record high
13 Nov 2013
Afghan opium cultivation has
reached a record level the United Nations says. The UNODC report said the
harvest was 36% up on last year, and if fully realized would outstrip global
demand. Most of the rise was in Helmand province, where British troops are
preparing to withdraw. Afghanistan produces more than 90% of the world's opium.
The findings of the latest report reverse a decline in production last year
attributed to bad weather and disease.
Afghanistan, the drug
addiction capital
10 Apr 2013
Afghanistan produces 90% of all
opiate drugs in the world, but until recently was not a major consumer. Now,
out of a population of 35 million, more than a million are addicted to drugs -
proportionately the highest figure in the world. "We are already losing
our children to suicide attacks, rocket and bomb attacks," he says.
"But now addiction is another sort of terrorism which is killing our
countrymen." It's clear that decades of violence have played a part. When
foreign troops arrived in Afghanistan in 2001, one of their goals was to stem
drug production. Instead, they have been accused of turning a blind eye to the
poppy fields.
Why Afghanistan may
never eradicate opium
25 Feb 2013
For years Afghanistan has been the
world's largest producer of opium, the raw material for heroin, most of which
is exported to Iran, Russia and Europe. The cultivation of cannabis has
replaced poppies in some parts of the country including Balkh province.
Revenues from cannabis cultivation and production of cannabis resin are similar
to or even surpassing those earned from the cultivation of opium poppy.
Russia scraps US
anti-drug accord after 10 years
30 Jan 2013
The Russian government has
abandoned an agreement with the US on fighting crime and the drugs trade. Russia
has been grappling for years with a huge heroin abuse problem, exacerbated by
its proximity to drug-trafficking routes from Afghanistan. It has accused the
US of failing to use its influence in Afghanistan to tackle the trade
effectively.
US blacklists Afghan
airline accused of smuggling opium
25 Jan 2013
Afghanistan's largest private
airline, Kam Air, has been barred from receiving US military contracts amid
allegations of drug smuggling, officials say. The US military says it conducted
an investigation which showed Kam Air transported large quantities of opium on
civilian flights to neighboring Tajikistan. Kam Air operates a fleet of some 16
planes, including Boeing 767s and 747s - and Antonov cargo planes which fly to
many destinations. The US move comes at a time of Afghanistan's burgeoning drug
trade.
Afghanistan opium
harvest drops by a third – UN
20 Nov 2012
Opium production in Afghanistan has
fallen by a third, according to a United Nations report. The fall came even as
the amount of land used to cultivate the crop rose by 18%. The fall in the
harvest is being attributed to bad weather and disease. Last year, opium
production in the country was reported to have doubled on the back of rising
prices for the crop. Afghanistan produces more than 90% of the world's opium. Helmand
was the province with the largest amount of land being used for opium
production, the report said.
UN report: Opium
cultivation rising in Burma
31 Oct 2012
Opium growing has increased in
Burma for a sixth year running despite eradication efforts, a UN report says. Land
used for opium had risen by 17% this year, from nearly 40,000 hectares (100,000
acres) to 51,000 hectares. Burma is the second largest opium grower in the
world after Afghanistan. Burma accounts for 25% of opium grown in the world,
while Laos accounts for 3%, said the report. Most of Burma's opium is refined
into heroin - about half goes to meet the growing market in China. The Golden
Triangle - where Burma, Thailand and Laos meet - has been notorious for opium
and drug smuggling for decades. Almost all of the opium Burma produces is grown
in Shan and Kachin states, which have seen longstanding conflict between the
military and ethnic rebel groups.
Karzai sacks Helmand
governor Gulab Mangal
20 Sep 2012
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has
sacked the governor of Helmand province as part of a series of sweeping
political changes. Gulab Mangal had to deal with complex tribal tensions and
ongoing problems related to the opium trade - Helmand at that time grew half of
the country's opium poppies. Mr Mangal's successor is thought to enjoy closer
relations with the presidential palace. He will be replaced by General Naeem
Baloch, who works for the Afghan intelligence service.
US sees sharp rise in
newborns with opiate withdrawal
30 Apr 2012
The number of babies born in the US
showing symptoms of opiate withdrawal increased threefold in the 10 years up to
2009, a medical study has found. The number of pregnant women testing positive
for illegal or legal opiates increased fivefold in the same period. In 2011,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that painkiller
abuse in the US had reached "epidemic proportions". It said overdoses
of pain relievers cause more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.
Afghan drugs: Opium
price rises by 133%
12 Jan 2012
The price of Afghan opium rose
dramatically in 2011, the UN has said. Opium poppy farmers in Afghanistan
probably earned more than $1.4bn (£910m) last year - equivalent to 9% of the
country's GDP, it estimates. Prices started to rise in 2010 after the poppy
crop was hit by a fungal disease.
Afghan opium production
'rises by 61%' compared with 2010
11 Oct 2011
Opium production in Afghanistan
rose by an estimated 61% this year compared with 2010, according to a UN
report. Last year opium production halved largely due to a plant infection
which drastically reduced yields.
Afghan President
Karzai criticizes US-Russia drugs raid
31 Oct 2010
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has
criticized the first joint operation by Russian and US agents to destroy drug
laboratories in his country. He called it a violation of Afghan sovereignty and
international law. Russia said more than a ton of heroin and opium, with a
street value of $250m (£157m), was destroyed in the raid. Officials in Moscow
have in the past accused coalition forces in Afghanistan of doing little to
tackle drugs, and thereby helping to sustain the estimated 2.5 million heroin
addicts in Russia.
British troops investigated for heroin smuggling
12 Sep 2010
Military police are investigating claims that British soldiers may have
trafficked heroin from Afghanistan. The inquiry is focusing on service
personnel at airports in Camp Bastion and Kandahar. Afghanistan is the source
of 90% of the world's opium.
Afghanistan
Opium at Record High
27 Aug 2007
The UN says opium production in Afghanistan has soared to record levels,
with an increase on last year of more than a third. The UN Office on Drugs and
Crime report says the amount of opium produced there has doubled in the last
two years. Afghanistan now accounts for more than 93% of the world's opiates.
Warning over
Afghan Drug Economy
28 Nov 2006
Afghanistan supplies more than 90% of world opium. The drug trade accounts
for a third of the economy and permeates the "higher levels of
government", 2006 saw opium cultivation rise by 60% and production by 50%.
Afghan Drug
Crop to Flood Europe
28 Nov 2006
European cities risk higher numbers of heroin overdoses as Afghanistan's
record opium poppy crop floods cities with the drug, the UN has warned. Europe
has traditionally been the biggest market for Afghan opiates and opium
cultivation in Afghanistan increased by 59% this year.
Quandary of
Afghan Opium Industry
02 Mar 2005
Yet again, an alarming study on the rise in opium production in Afghanistan
- source for most of the world's supplies of heroin.
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