PARIS, May 22: Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah appealed to the international community on Thursday to do more to stem a growing trade in heroin from his country, now ranked as the world’s top drug-producing nation.

“We will not be able to eliminate opium poppy cultivation in a sustainable manner without the political and financial support of the international community,” the Afghan minister told an international drugs meeting in Paris.

“The assistance provided so far is greatly appreciated but it is far from sufficient,” he told ministers from 55 states meeting to discuss ways of tackling the trade in drugs produced in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

“Our battle against international terrorism, closely liked to the drugs business in our region, is not over... the threats remain potent,” he added.

The minister said Afghanistan would unveil a 10-year plan to wipe out production of opium poppies and announced a meeting in Kabul “some time this year” to address the problem.

“We are seeing the appearance of a rapid growth in consumption in countries of the second circle — candidate countries to the European Union — and also in the third circle — countries to the east and south,” said the EU’s European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

The UN in March placed Afghanistan at the top of the world’s drug-producing nations as it predicted a bumper opium poppy harvest this year.—AFP