Afghanistan: Opium supply drops 95% after Taliban drug ban

Opium production in Afghanistan has plummeted since the Taliban banned cultivation of the poppy plant, according to a UN report published on Sunday.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers pledged to wipe out the country's drug industry, banning poppy cultivation in April 2022.

Poppy plants are the source of opium and heroin. Afghanistan was the world's biggest opium producer and a major source for heroin in Europe and Asia before the Taliban takeover.