Drugs that fuel Afghan war seized

KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S. and Afghan forces seized 16.5 tons of drugs and killed 34 militants during a three-day operation against a key insurgent stronghold in southern Afghanistan, a U.S. military statement said yesterday.

The seizure was one of the biggest by foreign troops in Afghanistan since 2001 and an indication of a nexus between the insurgency and the drug trade that fuels it.

The narcotics were taken after an operation in the village of Marjah, a major drug-processing hub in Helmand province, which is the world's largest opium-poppy-producing region.

"They hit them where it hurts the most in a main command node and in the wallet," said Col. Greg Julian, the chief U.S. military spokesman.

During the operation, which started May 19, the troops also discovered 45 tons of ammonium nitrate, ammonium chloride, and other material for homemade explosives, the statement said. A statement said forces discovered black-tar opium, processed heroin, and morphine - all of which are derived from poppy plants.

They also discovered a "massive supply of heroin-refining products," the statement said.

For years, U.S. and other Western officials have said that the booming drug production in southern provinces, where insurgency is strongest and the government weakest, is funding the Taliban's war.

The United Nations has warned that the Taliban and drug lords have pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars from the trade, which also feeds corruption among government officials.

The huge drug production complicates efforts to effectively fight the Taliban, which has made a violent comeback in the last three years after their initial defeat in 2001. Attempting to reverse these trends, President Obama has ordered most of the new 21,000 U.S. troops to join the fight in the south.

During the operation in Marjah, the coalition troops killed 34 militants and seized weapons, communication equipment, Russian-made night-vision goggles, and U.S. military-vehicle parts, the statement said.

In other violence, seven militants died Wednesday after a firefight and air strikes in the central Ghazni province, another U.S. military statement said. The joint force came after a Taliban subcommander involved in attacks in eastern Afghanistan was seized. The wanted man, who was not identified, was detained.