Non-Subscriber Extract
Afghan drug output wanes – but only under Taliban
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| 22 October 2001 |
By Anthony Davis (JIR, October 2001)
Since the ban imposed by Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in July 2000, areas of Afghanistan under the control of the Islamist militia have witnessed a remarkable transformation as opium poppy cultivation has almost totally disappeared. This has resulted in some 70% of the world's illicit opium production being wiped out virtually at a stroke.
In the northeastern corner of the country under the control of the anti-Taliban opposition United Front (UF), however, no such change has occurred. Indeed after several years of decline, poppy cultivation and narcotics production may be increasing. Across several districts of Takhar province and, more importantly, mountainous Badakhshan, cultivation has continued unchecked over some 3,000 hectares, while a rising tide of narcotics - both opium and the heroin refined from it - has continued to flood across the Amu Darya river border into Tajikistan and Central Asia beyond.
Predictably, as both sides in the Afghan conflict vie for international recognition and support the issue has now become highly politicised. Flushed with their own success in stamping out poppy cultivation, the Taliban were not slow to accuse their arch-rival UF military chief Ahmadshah Massoud of involvement in the drugs trade - noting specifically that UF military flights have been involved in moving narcotics across the border. Massoud, who was assassinated on 9 September, rejected the accusations, asserting in a recent interview that "we are against [the trade] and our position is very clear". At the same time, he was forced to concede the obvious: that the UF-controlled northeast enclave has become an important conduit for the passage of narcotics to Central Asia and beyond.
During the interview Massoud preferred not to dwell on opium and heroin production in the region. However, both he and Burhanuddin Rabbani, president of the rump Islamic State of Afghanistan (ISA), were made well aware that in the wake of the Taliban's undeniable coup, the focus of international concern over Afghanistan's narcotics production and export will now fall increasingly on their fiefdom.
In Badakhshan, traditional opium poppy cultivation grew significantly during the anti-Soviet war of 1979-89 and accelerated rapidly in the first half of the 1990s. With an estimated 2,485ha under cultivation in 2000, according to the UN's Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) survey, opium production has now become a crucial segment of the rural economy of several districts in the province, most notably Faizabad, Baharak, Jurm and Keshem. In neighbouring Takhar it has also grown to cover over 500ha according to the UNDCP survey.
The reasons are not difficult to discern. The collapse of state power in 1979 opened the door for an expansion of poppy cultivation in this remote and rugged province that has always been one of Afghanistan's poorest and has never been self-sufficient in wheat. Over the past decade, the trend was given further impetus by growing demographic pressures, soil erosion and the disruption of the traditional livestock trade as fighting has prevented Badakhsi farmers selling their cattle in Kabul. Against this backdrop, the opium poppy offers the farmer a strikingly higher profit compared to wheat. It also requires less irrigation; and, after the opium sap has been harvested, can be used to make cooking oil as well as providing winter fuel and animal fodder.
As elsewhere in Afghanistan before the Taliban ban took effect, opium production has also tied directly into the economy of the war. Poppy cultivation and the opium trade have both been overseen and taxed by local mujahideen commanders. The revenue derived has in turn reinforced the position of those commanders. Heroin refineries - generally run by chemists from the Mashriqi region of southeastern Nangahar province - operate under the protection of local commanders.
Compared to the key southern and southeastern provinces - Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Nangahar - where most Afghan opium production has been concentrated, output from the UF-controlled zone has been small - less than 5% - of a national production estimated in 2000 at some 3,300 tonnes. However, the arrival in Badakhshan of Mashriqi opium traders, who generally provide credit to farmers, has both stimulated northeastern production and, perhaps more importantly, has turned the region into a vital conduit for southern opium and heroin moving north into Central Asia. Increased security measures and interdiction along the Afghan-Iranian and Pakistani-Iranian borders have also encouraged this shift towards northern trafficking routes (JIR, August 2001).
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| Despite stringent denials, the anti-Taliban United Front continues to be accused of direct involvement in the drugs trade. From its enclave in northeast Afghanistan, the UF is said to be moving narcotics across the border into Central Asia and beyond. (Source: Anthony Davis) |
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| A map illustrating the major areas of opium production. In Taliban-controlled areas, opium production has declined dramatically, wiping out up to 70% of the world's supply. In areas still controlled by the United Front, however, crops continue to flourish. (Source: Anthony Davis) |