20 poppy growers detained in Nangarhar

JALALABAD (PAN): Twenty farmers were detained over the past one week on the charge of growing poppies in eastern Nangarhar province, where 66 anti-poppy cultivation gatherings had been organized, officials said on Monday.

Seven farmers were arrested in Khogyani district and six in Sherzad district and were referred to the prosecutor’s office, the Khogyani district chief, Mohammad Hassan, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Haska Maina district chief Esa Khan Zwak said five farmers had been arrested in the district, while Lalpur district chief, Abdul Qayum, confirmed the arrest of two poppy growers in his district.

The district chiefs said they had entered agreements with tribes not go grow the banned crops. They said the detainees were being referred to judicial departments.

On Governor Gul Agha Sherzai’s directives, district chiefs held 66 gatherings with tribes in 22 districts to convince them not to cultivate poppy crops. The tribes had agreed not to grow the plant, the governor’s spokesman, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, said.

The 22 districts had been categorised into three zones to prevent the poppy cultivation, he said, adding the district chiefs and district police chiefs of a zone would assist each others in preventing the cultivation. It has been decided to bring poppy cultivation to zero level in the province this year, he said.

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