Five NATO Soldiers Wounded In Afghan Attacks

Canadian troops serving in NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (file photo) (epa) January 6, 2007 -- Four NATO soldiers have been wounded in a suicide bombing in eastern Paktika Province, when provincial officials say a bomber rammed his explosives-filled vehicle into a NATO vehicle late on January 5.

Officials did not identify the nationalities of the wounded, but most soldiers stationed in the province are American.

In a separate incident today, one NATO soldier was wounded when a roadside bomb struck his vehicle in southern Kandahar Province.

Opium In Afghanistan

An antidrug billboard in Kabul shows a skeleton hanging from an opium bulb (AFP)

OPIUM FARMING ON THE RISE Despite a nationwide program by the Afghan government to eradicate opium-poppy fields and offer farmers alternative crops, international experts say that the 2006 opium crop will be as much as 40 percent larger than the previous year's. Afghanistan is the largest producer of opium in the world, and the source of as much as 90 percent of Europe's heroin.(more)

Narcotics Supply Reduced, But Afghanistan Still Suffering

Saffron Could Help Wean Farmers Off Opium Poppies

Poppy-Eradication Drive Launched In Western Province

Insurgency Gains Ground As Poppy-Eradication Efforts Struggle

UN Drug Agency Promotes 'Alternative Development' For Curbing Poppy Cultivation

For weekly news and analysis on Afghanistan by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report."