World

Afghanistan opium poppy cultivation surges despite Taliban govt ban: UN

Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan more than quadrupled in 2026 despite a Taliban government ban, the United Nations said on Thursday, urging that impoverished farmers needed alternatives to the lucrative crop. Cultivated areas reached 43,000 hectares (around 106,200 acres), up from 10,000 hectares in 2025, while estimated opium production jumped fivefold from 300 tonnes to 1,500 tonnes, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a report. Long the world’s leading producer