(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News)
PUL-I-ALAM (Pajhwok): Public representatives and officials in central Logar province say 80 percent of Azra district's land is cultivated with hashish crop andTaliban
collect millions of rupees as usher from growers.
Hasibullah Stanikzai, the Provincial Council chairman, said that cultivation of hashish had increased in Azra district and become a good source of revenue for Taliban.
Hashish is cultivated widely in Azra as people could gain good revenue from which 10th part is given to Taliban as usher, he said.
'Taliban's known commandersMullah Adam and Mullah Noor collect around 15 million rupees in revenue from the hashish crops, the commanders pocket some of the money and the rest is used to buy weapons for the rebels,' Stanikzai remarked.
Hamidullah Hamid, the Azra district's administrative chief, told Pajhwok that 80 percent of the district's land was cultivated with hashish. He linked the cultivation of hashish to unemployment.
'Most parts of the district are controlled by militants and we have been unable to curb hashish cultivation', he added.
Abdullah, a resident of Akbarkhel area who has cultivated hashish on a few acres of land, said: 'Bad economic situations forced me to cultivate the illicit plant because hashish has good income.'
He said one kilogram of hashish was sold for 7,000 rupees in Azra district. As the harvests begin, Taliban militants visit all farmers and take their part in the name of ushr, a claim the Taliban rejected.
The group spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said hashish was cultivated in most parts of the district but the militants did not collect ushr its growers He said they did not collect ushr not they curb the plant's cultivation.
sa/ma
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