The government of Afghanistan set on fire 20 tons of narcotics in the outskirts of the capital city Kabul on Tuesday.

"Today we burned 20 tones of drugs and the government is committed to getting the country rid of illicit drug," Deputy to Interior Ministry on Narcotics Baz Mohammad Ahmadi said to newsmen after setting on fire the contraband.

The contraband torched Tuesday includes 457 kg heroin, 1,748 kg opium, 1,177 kg morphine and the remaining are hashish and other types of illegal drugs, the official further said.

According to Ahmadi, the contraband had been collected from Kabul and adjoining areas over the past 10 months from drug traffickers.

In spite of government efforts, Afghanistan is reportedly still producing 90 percent of opium poppy, the raw material used in manufacturing heroin.

Meanwhile, Ahmadi expressed concern over increasing poppy cultivation and producing illicit drug in the country, saying the number of addicted people in Afghanistan has gone up from some 1 million last year to 1.6 million today due to poppy plantation.