21:11•Updated 21:12
Opium cultivation has increased by 19 percent in Afghanistan this year, says the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Growth has occurred despite the fact that the Taliban government has almost completely banned cultivation.
Currently, 12,800 hectares of poppies are cultivated in Afghanistan, UNODC says in its press release.
UNODC notes that when the Taliban banned cultivation in April 2022, its total cultivated area was 232,000 hectares.
The center of poppy cultivation has moved to the northeastern province instead of being in the Taliban-supported areas of southern Afghanistan.