The Afghan government has described the poppy product and its processing into drugs as a global problem and calls on the international community to help Afghanistan fight against the drug menace.

The head Office of the Counter-Narcotics of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, Mawlawi Hasibullah Ahmadi, said as a global problem, the fight against drugs requires the help of the international community.

The official stated that the interim government is determined to fight against the drug menace in the country.

The above statement was made in a ceremony on Tuesday on the outskirts of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, to set on fire a huge quantity of illicit drugs and objects used in manufacturing drugs.

More than 20 tonnes of illicit drugs, including 635kg of heroin, were set on fire publicly to show the administration’s resolve to fight against poppy cultivation, processing into drugs, and drug trafficking.

United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), in a report, confirmed that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has reduced by 95 per cent.

“The counter-narcotics police have conducted more than 22,000 operations and arrested more than 9,000 individuals on the charge of involvement in the drug business. Police have also destroyed more than 900 drug labs and smashed 13,000 hectares of poppy farms during the operations,” Mr Ahmadi stated at the ceremony. 

(Xinhua/NAN)