corruption & insecurity

Corruption is highly visible opium poppies grown and sold very openly. This trade didn’t really exist during the last year of the Taliban rule. The drug trade now involves public officials, rebel groups, including the Taliban (who now use the proceeds to fund their insurgency) and opium-farming landlords.  The massive growth in the opium trade has created more crime, corruption, weak government and poverty.

Because of this, peace in Afghanistan is not secure. Foreign troops being there makes many locals angry because of their aggressive, sometimes violent behaviour and them not always treating women how the locals expect them to be treated. Rebel violence is a real problem:  Al-Qaeda are active in the eastern parts of the country (along the border with Pakistan) and The Taliban are still a very strong force in the south.

Violence, which is often targeted at civilians to keep control over the locals, has led to almost 3 million people fleeing to Pakistan and Iran. The government has not made the country feel secure and people are losing faith in its leaders which makes the political situation even more unstable.