NATO has failed to stop Afghan heroin trade: Russia

MOSCOW- Russia on Thursday blamed NATO's failure to stamp out heroin production in Afghanistan for a rise in domestic drugs use.U.S.-led forces entered Afghanistan to chase out Taliban Islamists after the al Qaeda attacks on the United States in 2001, but NATO members only agreed last year they could carry out direct strikes on drug traffickers.This was too late to prevent drug addiction becoming a serious problem in Russia, Viktor Ivanov, head of Russia's Federal Drug Control Agency, told a news briefing.Afghanistan supplies 90 percent of the world's heroin."The growth of narcotics from abroad has continued since the appearance of troops (in Afghanistan) in 2001," Ivanov said."This organization (NATO) had a remit to combat terrorism and not to combat drugs."Ivanov said 80 people died in Russia every day from drugs and another 250 people became addicts.About 80 percent of people with the HIV virus in Russia are drug users injecting themselves with infected needles, U.N. officials said at a conference in Moscow last year.Ties between NATO and Russia -- which lies on the main drugs transit route to Europe -- have been strained since August's war in Georgia.However, NATO is trying to enlist Russia's help to ensure supplies reach its forces in Afghanistan as Taliban attacks threaten NATO's main supply line from Pakistan.