On 3 July 2024, Afghanistan International published two videos featuring a group of men protesting and chanting slogans against the Taliban administration. According to the news agency, the footage was sent to the outlet by local residents of the Kargian village, in the Darayim district of Badakhshan province, and shows the population reacting to the Taliban’s destruction of poppy fields in the area.
The first video shows a large group, comprised of dozens of men and a few teenage boys, chanting “death to [Taliban Supreme Leader] Hibatullah,” “death to the Emirate” (the Taliban administrative state of Afghanistan), and “we don’t want the Taliban.” The group appeared to be unarmed, with only a few men seen holding large wooden sticks as walking aids. Despite the chants, the video did not show the group engaging in violence or advancing towards the Taliban fighters reportedly in the area.
In the second video, it is possible to hear gunfire in the distance, and the man filming stating: “the Taliban are opening fire at people and we can’t do anything.” Various Afghan news agencies reported that, as a result of Taliban gunfire, numerous people were injured. Whilst both Afghanistan International and Hamasa Media reported four victims, 8am, and Paigah News reported only three injured civilians. AW was not able to verify the number of civilians injured by Taliban gunfire.
The Kargian village sits near the reported locations of clashes between poppy farmers and Taliban forces which occurred in May 2024, as shown in the map below.
Figure: Map showing location of villages in the Argo and Darayim districts of Badakhshan province with reported protests and clashes between the population and the Taliban.
Current situation of opium cultivation in Afghanistan
There is evidence to demonstrate that despite the Taliban ban, poppy cultivation continues in some areas of Afghanistan. Alcis, a UK-based company that analyses geospatial data, published a report in 2023 with satellite imagery showing an “unprecedented 85% reduction of opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.”
However, although provinces such as Helmand, Farah, and Nimruz, showed a reduction of over 90% of fields being used for poppy, Badakhshan experienced an “increase from 13,803 hectares to 15,391 hectares,” thus “illustrating the challenges faced by the Taliban to eradicate and ban poppy growing in remote mountainous regions.” With an absence of viable alternative sources of income, many Afghans may continue to resort to poppy cultivation despite the ban.
According to a report on opium cultivation in Afghanistan published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in November 2022, almost all opium in the country is harvested between the months of April and July, with farmers selling most of their crops during this time period, or in the following months.
According to the November 2023 UNODC’s report, farmers would have also had to make a decision on what to cultivate in 2024 as early as October or November 2023. Therefore, protests and clashes are not unexpected as local poppy farmers in Badakhshan, who are approaching the end of a year’s worth of work, are left without a source of income.