The area under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has increased a whopping 63 per cent since 2016, a report published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Afghanistan's Ministry of Counter Narcotics has revealed.

The total area under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has reached 328,000 hectares in 2017, experiencing an increase of 127,000 hectares in just one year, the report revealed.

Another harrowing revelation in the report is that the crop is now being grown in three additional provinces which were considered poppy-free until last year. Among them is Ghazni, where poppy had not been grown since years before the arrival of Nato forces.

Of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, opium poppy is now grown in 24 provinces, with the greatest concentration in the Southern region.

These revelations come amid repeated claims by Pakistan that the writ of Afghan government in the country has weakened, leaving over 40pc of Afghan areas under Taliban control.

The report estimates that around 9,000 tonnes of opium, valued roughly at $1.4 billion, will be produced in the country in 2017.

"Challenges related to the rule of law, such as political instability, lack of government control and security, as well as corruption, have been found to be main drivers of illicit cultivation," the report claims.

The Afghan government's focus on fighting anti-government elements in densely populated areas may have left room for such elements to prosper in rural areas, causing an increase in production, the report opines.

Afghan provinces Hilmand and Kandahar, both of which border Balochistan, are among the largest producers of opium.

The Taliban — who banned poppy cultivation when it ruled Afghanistan ─ now appear to wield significant control over the war-torn country's heroin production line, providing insurgents with billions of dollars, officials said earlier this year.