The government of Afghanistan has launched an anti-drug campaign to destroy poppy-fields in Taliban hotbed and restive Helmand province in south Afghanistan, a statement of Interior Ministry released here Sunday said.
"As part of war against poppy in Helmand province the special Counter-Counter Police begun destroying poppy fields in Nadali district on Saturday morning and so far destroyed 100.8 hectares of poppy-cultivated fields," the statement said.
It said so far this year over 2,044 hectares of poppy fields had been destroyed in Helmand province, Xinhua reported.
Famous for growing poppy, according to Interior Ministry, Helmand alone produced 67 percent of the whole poppy harvest in Afghanistan while this country with an output of 8,200 tons of poppy in 2007, supplied 90 percent of the raw material used in manufacturing heroin in the world.
However, poppy cultivation, according to government officials, has dropped down 20 percent in 2008 as more than 20 out of the country's 34 provinces had been announced poppy-free.