Al-Azhar coordinates with army to fight drugs in South Sinai
South Sinai is marred by the growing phenomenon of drug cultivation and traffic, and while the Egyptian police and army are launching intense security campaigns to remove and burn hundreds of drug farms, the state has turned to Al-Azhar to organize advocacy convoys to South Sinai to persuade the people that Islam prohibits the cultivation, trade and use of drugs.
Al-Azhar Al-Sharif sent advocacy and medical caravans to South Sinai on Sept. 26 to confront the phenomenon of drug cultivation in the governorate. The caravans included 16 advocates, including four women and a number of doctors.
The caravan held a workshop with the people, including the youth, of South Sinai to explain how to deal with the phenomenon of addiction and drug cultivation. The workshop also dealt with abuse issues, presenting treatment methods and offering means of getting rid of the effects of drug abuse.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian army is conducting intensive campaigns to destroy hundreds of farms where drugs are grown, as the army announced on Sept. 17 the destruction of 146 drug farms in South Sinai.
The Egyptian police announced in July that two acres planted with the narcotic bango (cannabis) were destroyed in four mountainous farms in South Sinai.
