PESHAWAR: They are not junkies or a group of friends, but family members smoking opium on a freezing cold evening in Baroghil Valley — a small town situated in the extreme north of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Chitral district.

A traditional chillum (pipe) is passed from one member to another — including children — as they hunker on their knees, while thick smoke permeates the main room in one of Baroghil's households.

A man smokes opium. — Photo by author

“We smoke opium because we have no other option; it helps us to ward off the biting cold,” says Ahmed Tajik, a resident of Lashkargash village in Baroghil — where the mercury drops below -15°C in winter.

While saying this, he puffs smoke in the face of his five- year-old son.

70 per cent in Baroghil addicted to opium

According to locals and researchers, more than 70 per cent of the population in Baroghil valley is addicted to opium smoking.

A view of Baroghil Valley. — Photo by author

The valley is situated at about 12,500 feet in the extreme northeast and is nearly 280 kilometres away from Chitral town — the headquarters of landlocked Chitral district. It is located at the junction of Hindukush, Karakoram and Pamir ranges and borders with Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Wakhan Patti.

The mountainous valley comprises nine villages with nearly 4,000 households.