UN urges Afghanistan, Central Asia to fight drugs

United Nations, June 27 (IANS) The UN has urged close coordination between Afghanistan and Central Asian countries to combat drug trafficking, media reported Friday.

"The members of the Security Council underlined the threat posed by illicit drug production, trade and trafficking to international peace and stability in the region," Xinhua quoted a statement issued by the UN as saying.

"In this regard they emphasised the importance of close coordination between Afghanistan and its neighbours, in particular the Central Asian States, in combating drug trafficking," the statement said.

The release of the statement coincided with the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

Commemorated each year June 26, the international day was created in 1987 to strengthen action and cooperation against drug abuse worldwide.

Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are three of the Central Asian countries which share borders with Afghanistan.

The executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov said that the overall area of the country under opium cultivation increased 36 percent from 2012 to 2013, providing a crop yield of about 5,500 tons, or up to 80 percent of global production.