Opium Brides

Stephen Grey and Martin Smith go inside the deepest front in America's war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban: Pakistan. They uncover new details about border-crossing CIA-funded Afghan militias, investigate covert support for elements of the Taliban by the Pakistani military and intelligence, and explore the Obama administration's escalated campaign of drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas.

Afghan opium farmers have long borrowed money from drug gangs to subsidize their crops. Now, as the Afghan government destroys their livelihood in an eradication program, the farmers find themselves in a horrifying situation: repay their debts or give their daughters to drug-traffickers. Najibullah Quraishi reports on the harrowing story of the collateral damage of the counter-narcotics effort.

Afghan opium farmers have long borrowed money from drug gangs to subsidize their crops. Now, as the Afghan government destroys their livelihood in an eradication program, the farmers find themselves in a horrifying situation: repay their debts or give their daughters to drug-traffickers. Najibullah Quraishi reports on the harrowing story of the collateral damage of the counter-narcotics effort.