Large opium crop to fund terrorists

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A U.N. report says that despite efforts to deter opium production in Afghanistan, officials expect an abundant harvest.

Officials from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime say they are expecting cultivation of opium in Afghanistan mostly similar to 2007's record harvest of 192,000 hectares. The alarming estimate troubles many security experts because the money largely goes to fund the Taliban and other extremist factions, the United Nations reported.

Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the UNODC, says in the Afghanistan Opium Winter Assessment report that the money generated by Afghan drugs remains a destabilizing force in the region.

"Afghanistan is becoming a divided country, with clear drugs and insurgency battle lines," Costa said in a statement. "Opium is a massive source of revenue for the Taliban. … While analysts debate endlessly how to prioritize security, development, counter-narcotics and good governance, the Afghan opium situation is becoming desperate. And time is not on the right side."