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Article: 'Very bad' news on opium war: UN drug report finds `staggering' rise in Afghanistan output.
- Article from:
- Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
- Article date:
- September 3, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Chicago Tribune. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Kim Barker
Sep. 3--KABUL, Afghanistan -- Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan increased 59 percent this year, producing a record-breaking 6,100 metric tons of opium, in part because of efforts by the Taliban and other insurgents in the troubled south, according to a UN survey. Antonio Maria Costa, the United Nations anti-drug chief, called the crop "staggering." Afghanistan now produces 92 percent of the world's opium supply. If security in the south does not improve, entire provinces could fail. The southern part of the country is "displaying the ominous hallmarks of incipient collapse," Costa said Saturday. "The news is very bad," he said. It is ...