KABUL (Agencies): The Ministry of Interior said on Sunday that so far 2,183 acres of poppy fields across nine provinces have been destroyed in the ongoing campaign to rid the country of poppies.
According to the ministry, 777 acres of land in Pashtun Kot, Bilchiragh, Almar, Kohistan and Khyber districts of Faryab province have been destroyed along with 520 acres of land in Badakhshan province, 400 acres of land in Paktika province, 292 acres of land in Nangarhar province, 127 acres of land in Takhar, 38 acres of land in Kunar province, 13 acres of land in Baghlan province, 11 acres of land in Balkh province and 5 acres of land in Pasaband district of Ghor province were cleared from poppy cultivation. Poppy fields in Kabul province have also been destroyed.
Last week the Ministry of Interior of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) said that anti-narcotics police destroyed 800 acres of poppy fields in several operations across six provinces.
The Islamic Emirate’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, said that there is a serious fight underway against the cultivation and trafficking of drugs in an attempt to eradicate all traces of narcotics in the country.
Mujahid emphasized that efforts are being made to prevent drug trafficking, and that since the IEA’s takeover in August 2021, a large number of drug traffickers have been arrested and imprisoned.
He also assured neighboring countries and the region that they need not be concerned about drug smuggling from Afghanistan but to cooperate with the government and people in the fight against drugs and help find alternative crops to poppies.
Over 2,000 acres of poppy fields destroyed in ongoing campaign
