KABUL - A new survey conducted in the ‎northern provinces, particularly in Balkh, illustrates that the biggest threat to national security is rooted in the cultivation and dealing of drugs.

According to the survey conducted by Khat-e-Naw (New Line) Research Institute, this year about 20,000 hectares of land was used to grow poppies in northern Badakhshan, Baghlan and Faryab provinces.

The study also found that the money made from the poppy fields was the main source of funding for insurgent groups.

"The war in Afghanistan is the war on drugs," the institute's head, Abdul Qadir Misbah, said. "Numerous terrorist organizations are located across the country. Even there are rumors that PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] militants have also made their hideouts in Afghanistan."

Meanwhile, residents and social activists urge that the eradication of drugs production and trafficking can put an end to the ongoing conflict in the country.

In addition, they also urged the government to identify the king pins in the industry and bring them to justice.

"As long as the faces of these drug mafia bosses remain undisclosed, we will continue to see such people within our system and in the leadership," a university lecturer Abdul Hamid Safwat said. (Tolo News)