A recent report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) ‘muddies the water on one of the most important issues in the debate — the effects of Afghanistan’s drug production.’ Entitled Addiction, Crime, and Insurgency: The Transnational Threat of Afghan Opium, the report ‘gives the false impression that the Taliban are the main [...]

US troops deployed in Afghanistan have launched a major operation against the Taliban in Helmand province in the south. ‘Operation Khanjar’ (Sword Strike) has 4,000 US soldiers and 650 Afghan police and military. Fifty aircraft are involved, mostly supplied by NATO.
The US military hopes to succeed where NATO forces have failed for years. This involves [...]