Resistance as anti-poppy drive proceeds in Nangarhar

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): The counternarcotics department head for eastern Nangahar province says the ongoing anti-poppy campaign in the province has been struggling with security challenges.

The department has launched the campaign to eradicate poppy grown on 14,000 hectares of land in 14 districts.

However, farmers say the government should have conducted the campaign during the cultivation of the illicit crop. They say the crop is about to be harvested and resistance to the campaign is inevitable.

Counternarcotics head Idrees Sapai told Pajhwok Afghan News during an exclusive interview that 14,000 hectares of land has been cultivated with the crop in 14 districts.

He said the campaign was planned for 11 districts and only 1,500 hectares of land would be cleared of the plant.

The campaign was currently ongoing in Rodat and Bati Kot districts and about 150 acres of land has been so far cleared of the crop, he added.

Sapai said security challenges existed in the way of the drive, as insurgents resisted the campaign in Bati Kot district on Sunday.

On the other hand, local farmers criticized the timing of the campaign as the crop was near to be harvested. They said the government should have launched the drive during the crop’s cultivation.

They warned if the campaigners arrived in their areas for eradicating the poppy, they won’t allow them to do so.

A resident of Mamli area of Khogyani district, Khan Akbar, said he had cultivated the crop on his land because he incurred losses in other crops and the government didn’t help him.

Meanwhile, a resident of Ghanikhel district, wishing anonymity, expressed concern at the campaign and asked the government why it did not conduct the campaign during the crop’s cultivation.

Tribal elder Haji Gul Hussain said if security forces went to remote areas as part of the poppy eradication campaign, they might face resistance.

He said people had cultivated the crop due to extreme poverty and the government had also not assisted them.

Nangarhar deputy provincial council head, Dr. Lal Mohammad Durani, dubbed the complaints of people as legitimate and looked at the provincial administration’s anti-poppy campaign with doubts.

He told Pajhwok said the campaign was just aimed at extorting money from poppy growers.

Another provincial council member, Ashab Wali Muslim, said the government lacked the ability to conduct the poppy eradication campaign successfully.

He said insurgents who earned money through the crop were engaged in clashes with government forces.  

“Government forces abruptly leave a poppy field when they are fired at a few bullets by insurgents.”

However, Idrees Sapai rejected the doubts about the campaign and said the drive would be conducted in all parts of the specified 11 districts.

They had earlier warned people against cultivation of poppy, he noted, saying the Afghanistan Constitution and Counter Narcotics Law overtly prohibited poppy cultivation, smuggling and usage.

The Nangarhar governor’s spokesman, Attaullah Khogyani, said Governor Gulab Mangal was serious about eradication of poppy and he would allow no one to create hurdles to the campaign.

He said security forces backed campaigners to overcome all hurdles and threats but they were ready to confront and resist any kind of attack.

For years, poppy is cultivated in Nangarhar and local authorities conduct campaigns to eradicate the plant.

Experts believe the provincial administration’s non-serious attitude has allowed the plant to be grown in the province.

sns/ma