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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: poppies

poppies stories: 8 news summaries

US Preps Plans to Take Out Taliban Poppy Crop 

Offensive aims to cut off Afghan insurgency's financial lifeline

Apr 29, 09 2:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - American commanders in Afghanistan are preparing a huge assault on the Taliban's opium-growing heartlands this summer, reports the New York Times. Taking out the opium crop is key to NATO strategy, and commanders expect casualties on both sides will be high as the militants stand their ground to defend the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • Taliban • Kandahar • opium • poppies • Helmand province • Afghanistan war • Zabul

 Taliban Stockpiles
 Surplus Opium 

This year's crop was double global demand

Nov 28, 08 11:05 AM CST
(Newser) - The Taliban is stockpiling opium in Afghanistan, where high yields in recent years have led to a surplus, the UN drug office says. Poppy cultivation is less widespread than it once was, but the high yield offsets the contraction—and allowed the Taliban to make $300 million off opium last... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • surplus • opium • drug trade • poppies • supply and demand

Afghans Hard-Pressed to Hold Gains in War on Opium

Corruption, other obstacles make cultivation of legitimate crops tough to maintain

Nov 9, 08 8:58 AM CST
(Newser) - Afghanistan’s second-largest opium-producing province has eradicated the drug, a remarkable feat but one that farmers fear is short-lived, the Christian Science Monitor reports. NATO-backed efforts in the country that makes 90% of Earth's opium have reduced poppy harvests, violence, and corruption nationwide. But to grow anything else, the region... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • Taliban • opium • poppies

Marines Tread Lightly in Opium Poppy Fields

Fighters ignore
Afghan crop to avoid
alienating locals

May 7, 08 7:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - The US Marines have been battling the Taliban in the world's largest opium-growing region—and they're taking care not to damage the crop, the AP reports. Troops in Afghanistan are aware that the Taliban makes millions from the poppy harvest, but they also realize that destroying the locals' only source... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • US military • opium • poppies • Marine

More Afghan Families Using Girls to Pay Debt

Farmers hit by crop woes give daughters
as 'opium brides'

Mar 30, 08 6:24 PM CDT
(Newser) - Besieged by debt, more Afghan farmers are paying lenders by handing over their girls as "loan brides," Newsweek reports. Often taken from their families forever, the girls—some younger than 5 years old—are commonly beaten or pushed to suicide by their fate. "My heart is still... More »

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Afghanistan • War on Drugs • drugs • marriage • debt • opium • poppies • arranged marriage • dowry

Afghan Deputy Governor, 5 Others Killed in Mosque Attack

Bombing comes amid  'failed state' warnings

Jan 31, 08 8:04 AM CST
(Newser) - A suicide bomber in Afghanistan killed six people, including the deputy governor of the dangerous Helmand province, in an attack inside a mosque today. At least 11 others were injured in the explosion in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, a focus of reconstruction programs led by the British army,... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • suicide bomber • Kabul • bombing • opium • British military • drug trade • poppies • Pir Mohammad • failed state • Helmand province

US Targets Afghan Opium Crop

Karzai reluctant to allow spraying of heroin producing crop

Oct 8, 07 9:15 AM CDT
(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... More »

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Afghanistan • United Nations • Taliban • Condoleezza Rice • heroin • Hamid Karzai • opium • poppies • eradication • herbicide • counternarcotics • glyphosate • Antonio Maria Costa • John P. Walters • Farooq Wardak • General Khodaidad • William B. Wood • Helmand province

Afghanistan Supplies 93%
of World's Opiates

Poppy crop jumps 34% over last year

Aug 28, 07 6:47 AM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • Taliban • drugs • heroin • opium • opiates • poppies

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