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Drug addiction – a big challenge for Taliban government

Taliban officials often round up and forcibly take drug addicts to rehabilitation centres, which are over capacity.

Homeless Afghans addicted to drugs in Kabul, Afghanistan
Body of an Afghan man, Abdul Manan, a garbage collector, who died of drugs, lying at the scene where people addicted to heroin and methamphetamines take drugs in Kabul, Afghanistan. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA]
Published On 17 Jan 2022

Homeless Afghans addicted to drugs gather underneath bridges to take drugs and are often rounded up, beaten and forcibly taken to treatment centres by the Taliban to avoid visible casualties in harsh winter conditions.

The rehabilitation centre in the capital Kabul has some 350 staff and can cater to about 1,000 patients. Yet it is occupied by about 3,500 drug addicts who have been brought there by the Taliban.

A handful of rehabilitation centres are run by private charities in other cities as well.

Afghanistan is one of the leading producers of heroin and methamphetamine. Most of the drugs produced are exported to the world’s black markets.

Homeless Afghans addicted to drugs in Kabul, Afghanistan
Drug addicts who have been rounded up by the Taliban from different areas of the capital receive treatment at the detoxification ward of the Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment in Kabul. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA]
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Homeless Afghans addicted to drugs in Kabul, Afghanistan
The rehabilitation centre in the capital Kabul has some 350 staff and can cater to about 1,000 patients. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA]
Homeless Afghans addicted to drugs in Kabul, Afghanistan
Afghan men addicted to heroin and methamphetamines gather to take drugs in Kabul. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA]
Ahmad Zahir Sultani, head of the Avicenna Medical hospital for Drug Treatment in Kabul, Afghanistan
Ahmad Zahir Sultani, head of the Avicenna Medical hospital, talks about the treatment given to drug addicts who have been rounded up by the Taliban from different areas of the capital and brought at the detoxification ward of the Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment in Kabul. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA]
Homeless Afghans addicted to drugs in Kabul, Afghanistan
A handful of rehabilitation centres are run by private charities in other cities as well. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA]
Homeless Afghans addicted to drugs in Kabul, Afghanistan
Homeless Afghans addicted to drugs gather underneath bridges to take drugs. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA]
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Homeless Afghans addicted to drugs in Kabul, Afghanistan
Afghanistan is one of the leading producers of heroin and methamphetamine. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA]
Homeless Afghans addicted to drugs in Kabul, Afghanistan
For most Afghan addicts, drugs are a way to hide from unsolvable problems. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA]
Homeless Afghans addicted to drugs in Kabul, Afghanistan
The body of an Afghan man who died several days before lies at the scene where people addicted to heroin and methamphetamines take drugs underneath a bridge in Kabul. [Maxim Shipenkov/EPA]