Taliban meets French envoy in Doha, talks education & poppy farming issues in Afghanistan

Days after Kabul announced a ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen on Monday met with the French ambassador to Afghanistan Jean Marin Schuh to discuss a plethora of issues including the aforementioned decree. The top diplomats, who met in Doha, mulled over substitutes for poppy produce, Shaheen informed through a Twitter post. They also deliberated over other pressing issues in Afghanistan, including the educational system.

"Today, in Doha, I met Jean Marin Schuh...we talked about a range of topics, including education, the recent degree by Afghanistan about prevention of poppy cultivation and substitutes, projects for farmers, and bilateral relations," Shaheen wrote on Twitter.

The Afghan spokesperson also informed that the French envoy affirmed his commitment to engage in continuous communication with Afghanistan.

Notably, the meeting entails Taliban ruling to ban opium poppy farming in Afghanistan in a bid to check the production of raw materials for illicit drugs in the country. It is pertinent to mention that the opium poppy is used as raw material to produce heroin. The Taliban resolution specified that those farmers who will defy the order will face prosecution and loss of harvest.

Afghanistan hits booming opium industry

The decree also outlaws the trade of hashish, alcohol, and heroin. The opium poppy is significant agricultural produce in Afghanistan that for a long time has remained a source of income and employment for millions of farmers in Afghanistan. The decree signed by Taliban chief Hassan Akhund was announced by spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid, who informed that the terror outfit has imposed a "strict ban" on the production of "all types of illicit drugs," including 'Tablet K'.

"If anyone violates the decree and cultivates poppy, their crops will be destroyed and the violator will be punished based on Sharia law," the decree said, as quoted by TOLO News.

However, poppy cultivation is a major source of income in southern and northern Afghanistan. Most of the cultivation, when converted to drugs is smuggled to Iran, ANI reported. Notably, Afghanistan has remained among the world's top illicit drug manufacturers.

Now, with the economic situation in the country facing a trickle-down since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, people are struggling to hold on to the last straw. In addition, international donors pulling off their funding has also led to dried up employment in the public and private sectors.

Citizens in Afghanistan do not have enough money to purchase basic necessities and prolonged food insecurity could lead to a hunger crisis, humanitarian organisations working on the ground warned. Apart from the humanitarian crisis, an unstable political platform has also led to uncertainties in business and employment.

Young girls have been deprived of secondary education while women have been pushed to the boundaries of their homes with a plethora of misogynist sanctions imposed on them.

(Image: AP/ANI)