Washington, D.C. ? The United States said Thursday that top anti-terror allies Afghanistan, Pakistan and Colombia had fallen short in the war on drugs despite enhanced counter-narcotics efforts and it criticized perennial foes Iran, North Korea and Venezuela for not cooperating.

The State Department also noted backsliding in some key Latin American nations like Bolivia while it praised improved performances by Mexico and traditional Asian transshipment points China and Thailand, but slammed neighboring Myanmar for illicit drug production.

In its annual global survey of the drug war, the department said massive opium poppy production in Afghanistan, long the world’s top producer of the main ingredient for heroin, continued to pose a threat due to its links with groups such as the Taliban.