Islamabad, Apr. 3, (dpa/GNA) - The Taliban’s supreme leader Shaikh Hibatullah Akhundzada has banned the cultivation of poppies in Afghanistan.
A corresponding decree was announced by the Taliban’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, on Sunday.
It states that if the order is violated, the crop will be destroyed immediately and those responsible will be dealt with according to Sharia law.
“Moreover, the use, transportation, trade, export and import of all types of drugs such as alcohol, heroin, K-tablets, hashish, etc, including drug manufacturing factories in Afghanistan, are strictly prohibited,” the decree said.
In November 2021, the United Nations warned of an increase in the opium crop in Afghanistan.
Afghan opiates dominate the international black market, supplying eight out of 10 users worldwide, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported.
The decree comes after Akhundzada chaired a three-day cabinet meeting in his birthplace in Kandahar province in mid-March.
Following the meeting, the Taliban imposed a series of new restrictions on public life, including the decision to extend the closure of schools for teenage girls, the segregation of parks by gender, as well as beard and dress codes for government employees.
GNA