Now in power, Taliban set sights on Afghan drug underworld

By SAMYA KULLAB, MSTYSLAV CHERNOV and FELIPE DANA
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers have their sights on stamping out widespread drug addiction in the country, even if by force. Fighters raided a drug den under a bridge in Kabul on a recent evening, beating addicts. The addicts were then forcibly taken to treatment centers where they are to stay for 45 days. Afghanistan is the source of most of the world’s opium and a major center for methamphetamines. That has fueled a massive addiction problem. The Taliban also face the task of stopping opium production, a major source of income for poppy farmers at a time when the economy is on the verge of collapse.