Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

Mung bean mystery stumps British military
02 Jul 2009 14:42:32 GMT
 Source: Reuters
KABUL, July 2 (Reuters) - The British military is mystified after what was first announced as a major haul of opium poppy seeds amounted to nothing more than a hill of beans.

British troops came across a bag of seeds -- weighing 1.3 tonnes -- during a major operation near the provincial capital of southern Helmand last week, said a British military spokesman.

The find was originally trumpeted as a big haul of opium poppy seeds. Afghanistan produces about 90 percent of the world's opium.

The fight against opium production is a major element of the battle against the insurgency in Afghanistan because opium is the major source of funding for the Taliban.

However tests on the seeds by the United Nations appeared to show they were in fact mung beans, a perfectly legal if much less profitable crop.

Asked if the suspect kernels were in fact mung beans, Tekeste Tekie, U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation spokesman in Kabul, said: "There is no question, yes".

The British military spokesman would not confirm the mung bean mystery, saying the true nature of the suspect seeds had not yet been determined.

He said it was a matter for the Afghan army to clarify because they had alerted their British counterparts to the seeds in the first place.

About 9,000 British troops are deployed in southern Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led force. Some 4,000 U.S. Marines launched a major new offensive against the Taliban in Helmand early on Thursday. [ID:nSP510469] (Reporting by Golnar Motevalli; Editing by Paul Tait and Sanjeev Miglani)




AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  Journals - Disasters - Disasters
HPG - UK

•  Afghanistan accedes to Additional Protocols I and II in historic step to limit wartime suffering
ICRC - Switzerland

•  Afghanistan accedes to Additional Protocols I and II in historic step to limit wartime suffering
ICRC - Switzerland

•  ICRC survey shows disturbing impact of hostilities on civilians
ICRC - Switzerland

•  Children at risk in disasters still being ignored, says report
Plan UK

MORE >>

Latest news

•  Mung bean mystery stumps British military

•  FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan, July 2

•  U.S. Marines fan out in big south Afghanistan assault

•  FACTBOX-Military deaths in Afghanistan

•  FACTBOX-Earthquake-stricken L'Aquila, site of G8 summit

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Background information

Facts & figures
Afghanistan United Kingdom

Related articles

Breaking stories
 Mung bean mystery stumps British military (1 minute ago)

FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan, July 2 (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 World facing new displacement crisis - UN refugee chief (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 Journals - Disasters - Disasters (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 Climate adaptation funding proposed by Britain must be spent wisely (1 minute ago)

Maps
 AFGHANISTAN Takhar Area Multi Temporal Comparison of River State (1 minute ago)


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-07-01T161547Z_01_SZH06_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHANISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SZH06.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-07-01T161421Z_01_SZH05_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHANISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SZH05.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-07-01T161312Z_01_SZH04_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHANISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SZH04.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-07-01T161147Z_01_SZH03_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHANISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SZH03.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-07-01T160938Z_01_SZH02_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHANISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SZH02.htm

A U.S. army Chinook helicopter flies to Forward Operating Base Airborne over the mountains of Wardak Province, Afghanistan July 1, 2009. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov (AFGHANISTAN POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY) ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Thu Jul 2 14:44:53 2009