The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has contributed more to the fight against drugs in Afghanistan in the past year than did a two-decade effort by a coalition led by the United States which was interested in exporting Afghan heroin to Russia and other countries, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said.
The Russian politician referred to the Afghan Opium Survey 2023 released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) earlier this month. According to the report, opium production in Afghanistan saw a 95% decline, from 6,200 tons produced in 2022 to 333 tons in 2023.
“In less than a year, the Taliban (IEA), no matter how we may feel about it, did what the US-led NATO coalition, which was allegedly fighting terrorism in the country, failed to do over a span of 20 years. That’s what happens when those who were, in fact, interested in exporting heroin to Russia and other countries leave the region,” Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel, TASS news agency reported.
The United States completed the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, marking the end of a military operation that was launched in 2001.
