Afghan farmers lament poppy ban

Taliban security personnel destroying a poppy plantation at Jar Qala village in Chimtal district of Balkh.

IN a secluded compound in south Afghanistan, Bibi Hazrato cries in dismay as a group of men hack down her poppy crop, enforcing a Taliban government order to wean the nation off the narcotic plant.

“If you were working for God, you would not have crushed this little field,” the frail sexagenarian hectors the turbaned men flaying her plants.