Farmers in the southern Helmand province of Afghanistan claim that the Taliban has threatened that the farmers will be killed if they don’t grow poppy, according to a Dari-language Afghan news website.
The farmers say that the Taliban forces them to grow poppy so that it can collect ‘‘tax’’ revenue on the produce, according to a report on the Dari-language website roznews.com.
The militants take as much as 50 percent of the farmers’ profits, the report said, adding that when the Taliban controls the area, the farmers are forced to grow poppy, but when the government gains control, police destroy their crops.
Source: www.roznews.com, Afghanistan, March 10, 2010
