Afghanistan poppy yield soars

2004-03-02 08:33

Washington - Afghanistan's poppy crop has reached unprecedented levels despite stepped up efforts by the US-backed government in Kabul to stem a burgeoning drugs crisis, a US government report has reported.

"Given the profound destruction brought about by more than 20 years of conflict, the lack of many viable alternative crops to opium, and the limited enforcement capacity of the central government, poppy cultivation this year approached the highest levels ever registered," said the State Department's 2004 international narcotics strategy report.

Afghanistan is the world's biggest producer of opium, used to make heroin.

International and US surveys indicated that in 2003, Afghanistan produced three-quarters of the world's illicit opium, the report said.

Robert Charles, assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement, said Washington estimated the 2003 opium crop in Afghanistan at 61 000 hectares, nearly twice the previous year's haul.

"In Afghanistan, poppy eradication is physically and also politically difficult for a young government recovering from the aftermath of war," he told reporters.

The drug economy in Afghanistan is deeply embedded. the report stressed.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates opium trade to be 40-60 percent of Afghanistan's gross domestic product, Charles said.

Drug production, combined with terrorism, is the biggest problem facing Afghanistan as it attempts to rebuild after more than two decades of war, President Hamid Karzai told an international narcotics symposium recently.

The Afghan leader has sought more aid from donor nations to tackle his country's burgeoning drug industry fuelled by warlords and smugglers.

Afghanistan's five-year anti-narcotics strategy aims to reduce opium cultivation by at least 70 percent by 2008, crack down on money laundering and boost regional and international cooperation on illicit drugs.

According to the State Department report, the United States is considering a request by the Afghanistan transitional government for assistance in creating a central government-run, nationwide poppy eradication campaign.

- AFP