March 30, 2003	Sunday	Muharram 26, 1424

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BAJAUR, March 29: The political administration of Bajaur Agency is facing difficulties in destroying the banned poppy crop standing over large tracts of inaccessible land in the agency.

Official sources said that poppy cultivated over more than 12,000 acres in the inaccessible parts of the agency this year was much larger than the yield of previous few years put together.

The anti-poppy operation is continuing in the tribal area for the last few weeks, but the administration failed to persuade the growers to destroy the crop, they added.

The officials of the Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) and some envoys of European Union had expressed dissatisfaction over the operation results during an aerial survey of the Bajaur mountainous areas a few days back, sources said.

The administration has deployed about 2,000 troops of Bajaur Levies, but the force could succeed in uprooting only 15 per cent of the total standing crop, the sources said.

The sources revealed that the administration was utilizing all available resources to overcome the resistance put up by the tribal growers and destroy the banned crop to save their skin.

This situation is badly affecting the official work as almost all the officials are engaged in the anti-poppy operation and the work is pending.

The sources said that the provincial chief secretary had also expressed his concern over the insufficient steps taken by the political administration to carry out the operation.