Muhammad Tahir, 'Fueling The Taliban: Poppies, Guns And Insurgents', Global Terrorism Analysis / The Jamestown Foundation, 11 July 2008

EXCERPT: "Afghanistan has rarely been absent recently from the international press, but developments in the country have once more brought it to the world's attention. According to tallies based on military statements, June was the second month in a row in which casualties of foreign troops in Afghanistan exceeded those in Iraq, with the loss of 49 soldiers in combat, attacks or accidents. Meanwhile, a report released by the UN's Office on Drug and Crimes (UNODC) on June 26 indicated that in 2007 Afghanistan broke all of its previous records for the production of opium?the raw material for heroin'since the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001. What was alarming in this report was the connection between the increasing insurgency and massive poppy cultivation?Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UNODC, estimated the total income of the 2007 opium harvest at around $4 billion, more than half of Afghanistan's national annual income (Dawn [Karachi], June 30)."

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Related posts:
'Militancy, drug to put regional stability at stake', 8 July 2008
'UNODC 2008 World Drug Report: Opium trade soars in Afghanistan', 26 June 2008
'Afghanistan's Opium Poppies: No quick fixes', 19 June 2008