BBC : Report to show Afghan opium rise

Report to show Afghan opium rise

By Alastair Leithead | BBC News, Kabul | August 27, 2007

The amount of opium produced in Afghanistan has broken records again, official figures are due to reveal.

Helmand province, where UK troops are based, is expected to be named as the world's largest drug-producing area, surpassing entire countries.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is publishing its annual opium survey later on Monday (1500GMT).

It is expected to reveal a huge increase in the poppy crop which provides the raw material for heroin.

Millions of pounds of aid money has been allocated for anti-drugs efforts in the war-torn country.

Drugs failure

However the UN report paints a dismal picture of the efforts led by the British government to tackle the problem.

Helmand province, where UK forces are battling the Taleban, is thought to have increased production by between a third and a half on last year.

General Khodaidad, Afghanistan's acting minister of counter narcotics, said: "Unfortunately we have failed, in security we have failed and in drug issue we have failed, we have not done a good job in Helmand.

"This year we must change the strategy, how to fight, how to work in Helmand to improve the security and tackle the poppy in Helmand province."

Some provinces in the north are thought to have seen a drop in poppy harvests but the overall statistics will most likely show an increase across the country.

The fighting and insecurity in southern Afghanistan is blamed for the increase, along with a failing justice system unable to prosecute drug barons and corrupt government officials.

The lack of incentives for farmers to grow anything else has also been identified as a factor.