Baku, Azerbaijan, March 19
By Temkin Jafarov - Trend:
Between Afghanistan and Azerbaijan there are several cooperation agreements on fighting narcotics, which will be continued and further strengthened, Afghan Foreign Minister Zarar Ahmad Osmani told Trend on March 19.
Osmani, who is visiting Azerbaijani capital of Baku, said Afghanistan is working effectively in the fight against drugs.
The minister said five percent of drugs produced in Afghanistan are used within the country, while 95 percent are used outside of it.
"Three percent of profits from drug sales, account for Afghanistan, while the remaining 97 percent account for other countries. Profits from drug trafficking are not spent in Afghanistan," the foreign minister said.
Osmani said that because of narcotics Afghanistan is facing very big problems.
"In other countries these problems are not as many as in Afghanistan. The issue related to narcotic drugs is not only Afghanistan's problem, but it is also a regional and international problem," the minister added.
He said that today there is very good situation in Afghanistan in terms of security. Afghanistan's security is provided by more than 350,000 policemen. These are Afghan forces and the country's security is provided by these forces.
"Compared with previous years, today there is a very big development in Afghanistan in terms of security. It can be said that in several areas Afghanistan is safer than some neighbouring states. Al-Qaeda and radical forces don't have bases in Afghanistan. They are placed in the Pakistani province of Waziristan," the minister said.
Translated by E.A.