KABUL - Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah on Monday said narcotics had a role to fuel insecurity in the country and close coordination among institutions was needed to counter the menace.

Addressing a cabinet meeting, Abdullah said the previous government failed to pay attention to eliminate drugs and its smuggling.

He acknowledged absence of thorough implementation of law and lack of coordination among departments were among hurdles to counter the narcotics business.

He said all issues pertaining to anti-poppy campaign had been discussed with officials of Criminal Justice Task Force Commission (CJTFC) during the last week meeting.

Earlier, he said the relevant law was flexible and smugglers would manage to flee. He said Afghanistan was one of the largest poppy producers and the country had more than one million drug addicts.

The CEO stressed for more cooperation among regional countries to eradicate the menace.

According to a survey conducted by the United Nation Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), poppy had been cultivated on 224,000 hectares of land in Afghanistan showing seven percent increase comparing to the previous years.

The CEO also expressed concerns over the growing suicide attacks and insecurity in parts of the country.

He said that acting defence minister has recently arrived from Badakhshan and he would brief the cabinet about ongoing situation there.

At least 33 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers have been killed, wounded or went missing during clashes with anti-state elements in the Juram district of northeastern Badakhshan province, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said.

According to a statement from the MoD, around 200 militants led by Maulvi Amanuddin, Taliban’s shadow governor, stormed ANA posts in Khastak area of Juram district last Friday. (Pajhwok)