A banner poppy crop in Helmand this year will add significant revenue to the Taliban’s coffers, a senior U.S. military spokesman based in Afghanistan told reporters at the Pentagon Thursday, as hundreds of U.S. troops remain in the volatile southern Afghan province where the Taliban has made gains since the fall.
(FOX)- “There is a concern that with this very good poppy crop that they had this year, it is going to result in the Taliban being able to turn that into money for their efforts,” said Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, a spokesman for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Cleveland added that there has been a decrease in Taliban attacks of late because April is the peak harvest time in Afghanistan.
“We have seen a bit of a lull in the fighting over the last month-plus, really because we think that a lot of the Taliban fighters have been out harvesting the poppy,” he said.
Cleveland said 700 to 800 U.S. troops remain in Helmand, the largest poppy growing province in Afghanistan. The Taliban recaptured large portions of Helmand this fall, forcing the U.S. military to reinforce the beleaguered Afghan Army, who have since pulled back from checkpoints and onto better protected bases.