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Drug users in Afghanistan tops to 3 million

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(Last Updated On: October 25, 2022)

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The recent research by US foreign ministry indicates that the number of drug users in Afghanistan reach to 3 million.

Not only is Afghanistan the global leader in opium production, but Afghans are now the leading consumers of their own drugs. The number of Afghan drug addicts now stands at nearly three million, up from less than 500,000 just two years ago. One Afghan health official describes the drug scourge as a “tsunami for our country”.

The survey was conducted in rural areas of 24 provinces of the country and shows that about 1.4 million people use drugs daily and in additional 1.6 million sporadically use drugs in Afghanistan.

With NATO troops pulling out and local law enforcement agencies ill-equipped and underfunded, production looks set to increase even further. And with the Taliban andal-Qaeda funded by the drug trade, fears are rising that further instability could wreak more havoc on this war-torn nation.

Drug use inside Afghanistan has spiked, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. About 1.3 million Afghan adults were regular drug users in 2012, up from 1 million in 2009; regular opium users grew to 230,000 in 2009 from 130,000 in 2005. The population of Afghanistan is just under 32 million.

Beyond Afghanistan’s borders, about three-quarters of the world’s illicit opium products originates from the country, which sees its poppy cultivation concentrated almost entirely in the country’s southern and western provinces.

Afghan authorities are struggling to control the resurgence in poppy farming that feeds the habits of addicts worldwide.

In 2013, coalition and Afghan forces seized 41,000kg of opium, while Afghans produced 5.5m kilograms of it. Overall operations are down 17% since 2011, with opium seizures down 57% and heroin seizures down 77%. As well, much of the country’s drug trafficking is invisible or inaccessible to the Afghan forces the US mentors and funds.

In another report by Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) Afghanistan is housing the equivalent of 400,000 football fields worth of opium fields, despite the United States having spent billions in taxpayer funds to combat the growth of illicit narcotics.

Security in Afghanistan also continues to deteriorate, making it more difficult for inspectors to provide oversight on the projects receiving U.S. funding.

The explosion in opiate production, unaffected by the $7.5bn spent by the US since 2002 to combat it, puts “the entire US and donor investment in the reconstruction of Afghanistan at risk,” special inspector general John Sopko told a Senate panel in January.

Reported by Wahid Nawesa

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Work permits issued to over 2,000, including women: Labor Ministry

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(Last Updated On: May 1, 2024)

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs says on the occasion of International Labor Day, the Islamic Emirate is trying to increase the number of job opportunities in the country.

The ministry said that it has distributed work permits to more than 2,000 people, including women, during the past month.

“Work permits were given to 2,115 of our compatriots over the past month, including to 205 women,” said Samiullah Ebrahimi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works.

“Of course, women have been permitted to work in sectors where women are necessary and their services are for women,” he added.

Meanwhile, workers in the country complain about the lack of jobs and say that the level of unemployment has increased and workers’ wages have decreased.

Afghanistan is one of the countries that has countless child laborers, and according to reports, governments have not been able to end this practice.

“I work for 200 to 300 afghanis a day, and there are eight members in our family,” said one child laborer.

“I am 12 years old and in sixth grade. I earn 150 afghanis per day, there are seven of us and I have been working here for one and a half years,” said another child laborer.

According to UN statistics, in 2024, more than 23 million people in Afghanistan need humanitarian aid, and that most of them are unemployed.

However, the demands are that international institutions should provide work for the people of Afghanistan by implementing development projects.

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Cooperating with Islamic system people’s Sharia duty: Hanafi

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(Last Updated On: May 1, 2024)

The Islamic Emirate’s Miynister of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, says there is no gap between the current system and the people and that cooperation with the Islamic system is the people’s Sharia duty, the ministry said in a statement.

At a gathering in Kabul, Hanafi said: “This Islamic system is the people’s system, the people are considered part of this system, there is no gap between the system and the people. Therefore, cooperation with the Islamic system is the people’s Sharia duty.”

“It’s a very positive thing that we Afghan people do not have differences among ourselves as before, we live under the command of one leader and the flag of the Islamic system,” Hanafi stressed.

“The goal of Jihad was to end the occupation, gain independence and strengthen the Islamic system in the country,” he stated, adding that “all these goals have been achieved with the help of God and the cooperation of Afghans.”

“Now the time has come to serve and cooperate with the people to solve the problems and implement the Sharia rules of the Islamic system,” he added.

The ministry stated that in addition to providing and protecting women’s Sharia rights, thousands of complaints have been resolved so far.

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Washington sees interaction with IEA as opportunity to protect its national interests

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(Last Updated On: May 1, 2024)

The Deputy Spokesman of the US State Department says that when the interests of his country are involved, Washington will not hesitate to interact with the Islamic Emirate.

Vedant Patel said that interaction with the Islamic Emirate is not only the best way to protect the interests of America, but also to support the people of Afghanistan.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, he said interaction with the Islamic Emirate provides the basis for a direct dialogue with them.

According to Patel, this interaction is an opportunity to continue the pressure on the Islamic Emirate for the immediate and unconditional release of American citizens, including those who have been caught “unjustly”.

Patel added that the United States would also take advantage of these opportunities to talk directly with the Islamic Emirate about commitments to counter terrorism. He emphasized that Washington human rights issues are also on the agenda.

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