Patrushev: US turned Afghanistan into global drug lab in 20 years

For 20 years, the US has created a global drug laboratory in Afghanistan, the production of opiates there has grown more than 40-fold, while the development of the Afghan state has been thrown back decades, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said, Report informs referring to UrduPoint News.

“In reality, during the presence of American troops, the number of terrorist acts in Afghanistan has grown significantly,” Patrushev said in an interview with the Izvestiya newspaper.

“Instead of fighting drug trafficking, over the two decades of the military-political administration of Afghanistan, the United States has implemented a project to create a drug laboratory on a global scale there. The production of opiates has increased more than 40 times,” he said.

According to Patrushev, the West has never been able to train the army, police, and security services of Afghanistan.

On August 15, the Taliban (a terrorist group banned in Russia) completed their takeover of Afghanistan by entering Kabul. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani left the country to prevent what he described as bloodshed that would occur if militants had to fight for the city. Most countries have reduced or evacuated their diplomatic missions in the Central Asian country following the events.