Taliban Cultivate Huge Drug Trade in Afghanistan ; Crop of Opium Poppies Sets Record

Summary

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WASHINGTON The Taliban have built a huge and profitable drug operation in Afghanistan while provincial governors look the other way, the latest grim sign of backsliding in a country America has spent six years and billions of dollars trying to salvage.

A U.S. report Friday on drugs it said Afghanistan now produces 93 percent of the world's opium poppies comes hand in hand with the resurgence of Taliban militants despite American anti-insurgent efforts. Also on the rise: terrorist violence such as roadside bombs, suicide bombings, and attacks on police.

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Extract

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Taliban Cultivate Huge Drug Trade in Afghanistan ; Crop of Opium Poppies Sets Record

The problems have worsened rather than diminished under the watch of the U.S.-backed government in Kabul and the relatively small number of American forces stationed in the nation, while larger numbers...

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