KABUL (PAN): A 200-bed rehabilitation centre for drug addicts, funded by the ministries of counter-narcotics and finance, was inaugurated in the Jangalak area of Kabul on Thursday, officials said.

The rehabilitation centre was constructed in three months at a cost of $290,000, acting Public Health Minister Dr. Suraya Dalil told the inaugural ceremony for the rehab.

There were a total of 17,000 drug addicts in the capital alone, but authorities would prefer to treat the individuals who were addicted to drug injections, she said.

After their rehabilitation, the individuals will attend vocational training courses, to be arranged by the Ministry of Labour, Social, Martyr and Disabled Affairs. After a month-long treatment, the individuals will rest for five months at home before attending the courses.

With the inauguration of the latest facility, Kabul had 11 rehabs with the capacity of 500-beds, the minister said, adding there were 65 centres for addicts across the country.

Minister of Counter-Narcotics Zarar Ahmad Muqbil said there were around one million drug addicts across Afghanistan. They were discussing with several other ministries ways of reducing the number by 50 percent over the next few years.

His ministry was trying to slash poppy cultivation and the drug trade by half in five years, Muqbil said. He explained 95 percent of the illicit crop was cultivated in restive provinces.

A lawmaker from Badakhshan province, Abdul Ahad Afzali, accused foreign troops of encouraging drug trafficking. The Afghans only grew the crop whose benefits were reaped by outsider, he alleged.

According to the MP, foreigners pocket $76 billion from drug smuggling while Afghans receive only 5 percent of the amount.

myn/mud