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ISIS Reportedly Burning Poppy Fields to Gain Foothold in Afghanistan
http://www.hightimes.com/read/isis-reportedly-burning-poppy-fields-gain-foothold-afghanistan
ISIS Reportedly Burning Poppy Fields to Gain Foothold in Afghanistan
By Bill Weinberg · Wed Jul 01, 2015
Fighters loyal to ISIS have seized substantial territory in Afghanistan, according to an ominous Reuters report from June 29.
Witnesses who fled fighting in Nangarhar province told reporters that hundreds of ISIS fighters in convoys of pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns seized several villages—and put local opium fields to the torch.
“They burned poppy fields in Shadal village and banned shops from selling cigarettes,” tribal elder Malek Jan said.
Taxing opium production is a key sources of Taliban revenue, but Reuters reported that ISIS loyalists in Nangarhar appeared to have other sources of money. Witnesses said they had plenty of cash. It is unclear where the money is coming from, but it allows ISIS to stigmatize the Taliban as soft on drugs.
