Wolesi- Jirga summons Minister of counter narcotics

Ministry of counter narcotics has said that they had failed to clear 22 thousand acres of land of poppy cultivation, due to security issues related to the election.
Mobariz Rashidi, Minister of counter narcotics said that according to the Security Council, they had failed to provide the required security cover as their focus had been on the elections.
The Afghan Senate has summoned Ministers of counter narcotics, public works, health and officials of the interior ministry to Parliament to discuss the rise in poppy cultivation and related drug addiction.
A number of the Senators also criticized the functioning of these institutions.
Mobariz Rashidi accepted the problem and said, “Drugs and terrorism are both challenges faced by Afghanistan and because of security concerns for the election we failed to carry out our programs to clear the poppy cultivation.”
Minister of Health and Public Works said that they have organized programs to treat drug addicts and bring them back to health.
Statistics show over a million people in Afghanistan are addicted to drugs. 80 percent of them are men, 13 percent of them are women and 7 percent children.