U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence assessed “al Qaeda has reached an operational nadir in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” but Taliban remain tolerant of al Qaeda & permit group to maintain safe haven in #AFG sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyr…

UN sanctions monitoring team July report: “al-Qaida remains strategically patient, cooperating with other terrorist groups in Afghanistan and prioritizing it ongoing relationship with the Taliban.” sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyr…

#VOA reported: In Badakhshan, Helmand, Herat, and Nangarhar, poppy is being grown “in the open and hidden behind property walls.” This has led Taliban eradication operations, fomenting farmer resistance and unrest sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyr…

Farmers have also resisted the Taliban’s opium ban by continuing to grow opium. In a June satellite image analyzed by Alcis, Argo, Badakhshan, seems almost completely untouched as farmers continue to grow opium sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyr…

Afghan families who depended on the opium economy are coping with the economic loss in counterproductive ways, such as selling their assets, eating less and lower-quality foods, and pulling out their children from secondary schools to work instead sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyr…