KABUL Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has funded up to 40 per cent of the Taleban-led insurgency, according to the top US general in the country.

General Dan McNeill, the head of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), said: “It is my best subjective estimate that the insurgency enjoys fiscal resources from the cultivation of poppy probably to the level of 20 to 40 per cent of its total fiscal resources.”

The cultivation of opium was undermining everything that the Government and its international allies were trying to do, he said. Despite internationally backed efforts to cut the drug trade, Afghan opium production grew by 34 per cent this year, to about 8,200 tonnes, according to the UN. The country provides 93 per cent of global supply.

There has been pressure on Isaf to be more involved in eradication but General McNeill said that it was not the mandate of his 40,000-strong force. However, Isaf officials had already suggested that the force was ready to help by training Afghan security forces and sharing information and logistics. (AFP)

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