Fighting usually ebbs during the harvest season, illustrating how the Taliban are deeply entwined in the $3 billion opium trade, believed to be the mainstay of their insurgency against the government.

After Taliban bans opium, a guilt-racked commander winks at harvest June 23, 2023 More than 2 years ago 10 min Summary ...

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban on Sunday announced a ban on harvesting poppies, even as farmers in some parts of the country began extracting the opium from the plant that ...

The harvest is underway, with teams of workers slicing the bulbs and scraping the milky resin that will eventually be opium. Almost every farmer seems to have dedicated a portion of their plots to ...

In the past, an estimated 60,000 migrant workers descended upon Marja to help with the harvest, but many might not come this year because more than 3,000 U.S. and Afghan forces are in the area.

Afghanistan's opium harvest fell in 2008 after international efforts to persuade farmers to switch crops but was still the second biggest on record, a United Nations body said on Thursday.

Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban have announced a ban on the poppy harvest, even as farmers in some parts of the country began extracting the opium from the plant that is needed for making heroin.

Afghan farmers harvest poppy in Nad Ali district, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Friday, April 1, 2022. Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban have announced a ban on poppy production, even as farmers ...