Taliban Imposes Ban on Poppy Growing

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers ordered a complete ban on growing poppies, the plants from which heroin is made and a major crop in the Central Asian nation. It was not clear what prompted the order from the group's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar. The order, which was reported on Taliban-run Radio Shariat, came just two months before planting season for poppy growers in several provinces of Afghanistan, the world's largest opium-producing nation. Omar threatened stiff penalties for farmers who ignored the ban and said poppy crops would be destroyed, according to Radio Shariat.