Abdul strikes the heads of poppies as hard as he can while holding an AK-47 assault weapon on his left shoulder and a long stick in his right hand. The stalks and sap from the poppy bulb both flutter in the air, emitting the characteristic, strong aroma of opium in its unprocessed state.
Abdul and a dozen other guys quickly destroy the poppy crop that had overtaken the little field. The armed men then board a pickup vehicle and go to the following farm while donning shalwar kameez (a traditional Afghan tunic with loose-fitting pants), the majority of whom have long beards.
We were granted a rare opportunity to accompany the guys on one of their patrols to destroy poppy growing. The men are members of a Taliban anti-narcotics unit in the eastern Nangarhar region of Afghanistan. The guys were insurgency combatants who were engaged in a conflict to grab control of the nation less than two years ago. Now that they have prevailed, they are dominating and carrying out their leader’s commands.
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Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme commander of the Taliban, issued a directive in April 2022 outlawing the growing of the poppy, which is used to make opium, a crucial component of the narcotic heroin. Anyone breaking the law would have their pitch destroyed and face Sharia-compliant penalties.
The 2022 opium harvest, which climbed by a third over 2021, was exempt from the Taliban directive, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
But this year is a lot different. The data we observed on the ground is supported by aerial photography.
David Mansfield, a recognised authority on the drug trade in Afghanistan, collaborates with Alcis, a UK company that specialised in satellite analysis.
“Cultivation is probably going to be less than 20% of what it was in 2022. According to him, the size of the reduction will be unparalleled. Despite the fact that most farmers have cooperated with the restriction, Taliban insurgents have been damaging their crops.
