Striking Afghan heroin labs will not defeat Taliban

Subject

The Taliban and the opium trade.

Significance

In what the UN says has been a record year for opium production, the US Air Force says it destroyed 25 opium-processing laboratories in Helmand province in the first three weeks of air strikes beginning on November 19. US officials argue that the Taliban operate these labs and draw most of their funding from producing and exporting heroin, but conflating the insurgency and the drugs trade is an over-simplification.

Impacts

• The coming months will show whether the war on drug labs is sustained or part of efforts to bolster morale.
• Air strikes will complement a strategy of recapturing poppy-growing areas from Taliban control but this will take time.
• Drug smuggling networks may increase funding for the Taliban, seek accommodations with Kabul or both.