opium – News Stories About opium - Page 3

Jan 6, 2008 5:28 AM CST

Afghans Facing Food Crisis

Minister pleads for wheat from international community

(Newser) - Afghanistan is facing a critical food shortage and is appealing to the world to send extra wheat, the BBC reports. "The situation is serious," warned the nation's commerce minister. Afghanistan relies on food imports, and the rising price of grain on world markets is triggering a national hardship....

Military: Shift Troops to Afghan Front

Dec 17, 2007 5:24 AM CST

Military: Shift Troops to Afghan Front

As Iraq improves, Afghanistan unravels

(Newser) - The US military is calling for an accelerated withdrawal from Iraq and a shift of troops and equipment to Afghanistan, reports the Washington Post. The post-surge reduction of violence in Iraq has coincided with resurgent Taliban activity in Afghanistan; both NATO and US commanders there say they need several additional...

Troubled Afghan Mission Under Review

Dec 16, 2007 7:37 AM CST

Troubled Afghan Mission Under Review

Prospect of failure in 'forgotten war' prompts probes, if not surge

(Newser) - With insurgent violence in Afghanistan soaring to the highest level since 2001, the Bush administration and NATO have begun three sweeping reviews of a mission that was considered a success, but now seems increasingly threatened. Lack of coordination in fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda, rising opium production, and the weakness...

UK to Pay Opium Producers

Nov 10, 2007 5:37 PM CST

UK to Pay Opium Producers

Britain wants to pay Afghan farmers to ditch heroin production

(Newser) - Afghanistan’s opium biz is booming, but British PM Gordon Brown says the almighty pound can squash it, the Guardian reports. He now wants to revive the UK's failed anti-opium program by paying Afghan farmers to produce crops other than poppy. So far, the UK has invested $20 million in...

US Targets Afghan Opium Crop

Oct 8, 2007 9:15 AM CDT

US Targets Afghan Opium Crop

Karzai reluctant to allow spraying of heroin producing crop

(Newser) - The US is pressing the Afghan government to stem its booming poppy crop with mass spraying following the biggest opium harvests in its history—which accounts for 91% of the world's production. Therein lies much of the resurgent Taliban's revenue, the New York Times reports, but Karzai fears a Taliban-inspired...

Afghanistan Supplies 93%
of World's Opiates

Aug 28, 2007 6:47 AM CDT

Afghanistan Supplies 93% of World's Opiates

Poppy crop jumps 34% over last year

(Newser) - Afghanistan's opium production has soared over the last year and the country now supplies 93% of the world's opiates. Most of the poppies are grown along the country's southern border with Pakistan, where the insurgency is strong, security is weak, and the Taliban continues to use its drug profits to...

US Troops
High on
Afghan Heroin

Aug 7, 2007 11:15 AM CDT

US Troops High on Afghan Heroin

Boredom, frustration drive soldiers to cheap, ubiquitous drug

(Newser) - Bored US soldiers have easy access to heroin in poppy-rich Afghanistan, and few fear punishment if they're caught using it, Salon reports. Filmmaker Shaun McCanna says he was able to score heroin easily on over a dozen occasions during his two trips to the war-torn country.