175 acres cleared of poppies in Kandahar

KANDAHAR CITY (PAN): Nearly two hundreds of acres of land was cleared of poppy crops and 22 people were detained as part of an anti-poppy campaign in southern Kandahar province, an official said on Sunday.

The illicit plant grown over nearly 175 acres of land was eradicated in Zhari, Shah Walikot and Maiwand districts, the governor’s spokesman Javid Faisal told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said 37.5 acres in Zhari, 65 acres in Maiwand and 65.5 acres in Shah Walikot district were cleared of poppies.

He said district chiefs led the campaign that involved counternarcotics police, who detained 22 people with poppy seed pods.

A Taliban fighter was detained and a walky-talky recovered from him in Maiwand during the campaign. Faisal accused the detainee of being involved in insurgent activities in the district.

mrh /ma

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