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Rising violence and drug trade in Afghanistan prompts Security Council mission

9 October 2006 – Voicing alarm about the volatile security situation inside Afghanistan and the threat posed by the country’s growing production of illegal drugs, the Security Council announced today that it will send a mission to the country as early as next month.

Ambassador Kenzo Oshima of Japan, which holds the Council presidency during October, read out a press statement detailing members’ concerns about the security situation and reiterating the UN’s commitment to help Afghanistan fight terrorists, violent groups and drug producers.

He said a Council delegation would be sent at an appropriate time, possibly in November, to review the situation on the ground and to reassure Afghanistan and its people of the international community’s support.

The press statement followed briefings to the Council by Tom Koenigs, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, and Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

UNODC released a survey last month that showed illicit opium production in Afghanistan was a record 6,100 tons this year – a leap of 49 per cent on last year’s figures. Afghanistan now accounts for 92 per cent of the world’s supply of opium, the raw material used to make heroin.

In the press statement, Mr. Oshima expressed regret at the casualties suffered by Afghan and international forces, as well as civilians, as a result of attacks by the Taliban, Al-Qaida and other groups.

He said Council members remain convinced that the best way to solve the interconnected problems of security, governance, development and the illegal drug trade is to continue to build “sound and resilient institutions,” strengthen the rule of law and tackle corruption.

The statement added that the Council welcomes the recent extension of the presence of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) into new provinces and the work that the Afghan Government is doing to build better relations with its neighbours.

In his latest report to the Council on the work of UNAMA, Secretary-General Kofi Annan last month said that violence in Afghanistan has reached its worst levels since the fall of the Taliban regime near the end of 2001.