Kabul, May 20: The Afghan army killed 25 Taliban
insurgents, including two commanders, in an operation to wrest
back an area of southern Afghanistan from rebel control, a
general said on Wednesday.
Heavy fighting has dogged the insurgent stronghold and
opium-producing area in Helmand province for days, with
security forces saying that they killed 25 Taliban there
nearly a week ago.
Afghan troops backed by US-led forces went on the
offensive in the Marja area, about 40 kilometres from the
provincial capital Lashkar Gah, Helmand Army Commander General
Mohaidin Ghori said.
"We have killed 25 Taliban including two of their
commanders since yesterday (Tuesday). We have taken total
control of Marja area," he said.
The area was in Taliban hands for about six months,
reports said.
Troops also discovered and destroyed a laboratory used to
process opium into heroin, the General said.
Helmand is the main producer of Afghan opium, which
accounts for more than 90 percent of the world`s supply. Most
of it is turned into heroin in the country before being
smuggled to markets in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
The Taliban are bound into the lucrative drugs trade,
earning money through a tax on farmers and for protecting
trafficking routes or poppy fields.
Bureau Report
