Taliban Forms Counternarcotics Commission in Afghanistan

The office of the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs has announced the formation of a high commission dedicated to combating intoxicants and narcotics.

Abdul Kabir, the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs, stated that the purpose of establishing this commission is to combat intoxicants and narcotics, find alternative crops for farmers, and treat drug addicts.

On Saturday, this Taliban office issued a statement saying that the initial meeting discussed the procedures of the commission. Abdul Kabir emphasised that their stance on combating narcotics is clear and that no one is allowed to cultivate, produce, or smuggle narcotics.

In this meeting, Abdul Haq Hamkar, the group’s Deputy Interior Minister for Counter Narcotics, claimed that all poppy fields have been destroyed. He emphasised that the Taliban have been successful in combating narcotics and that the international community has also acknowledged this success.

In its latest report, the United Nations Security Council stated that Taliban leaders have benefited from the ban on poppy cultivation, but farmers have suffered.

At the third Doha meeting, the Taliban asked the international community to help Afghan farmers.

The Taliban have banned poppy cultivation and narcotics production. The United Nations earlier reported that the Taliban leader's decree had been ignored in Badakhshan province.