AFGHANISTAN'S TALIBAN BANS HEROIN

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) The hard-line Taliban militia banned
heroin production in Afghanistan on Friday and destroyed 34 heroin
laboratories in a southern province, saying there is no place for
drugs in an Islamic country.

There are hundreds of small laboratories in Afghanistan where raw
opium is refined to produce heroin powder. Most are near the border
with Pakistan, through which the heroin is smuggled to Western countries.

The heroin labs were destroyed in the Nangarhar province, close to the
Pakistani border, the Taliban's top drug control authority, Abdul
Hamid Akhundzada, told reporters in the provincial capital, Jalalabad.
The Taliban also arrested 15 people working in the labs, he said.

Countries in the West and the United Nations have been constantly
demanding a crackdown on the heroin labs.

The Taliban militia, which rules almost 90 percent of the country, are
fighting a northern-based opposition alliance composed of religious
and ethnic minorities.

The Taliban has imposed a harsh version of Islamic law in the areas it
controls. Women are forbidden from work and school and men are forced
grow beards and cover their heads.