KABUL -- Afghan and coalition forces have jointly destroyed eight drug producing facilities Sunday (November 19) in Helmand Province, the Afghan presidential palace said in a statement Monday (November 20).
"These operations are concentrated on Sangin, Musa Qala, Kajaki, and Nawzad districts," the statement said.
Illegal drugs are a major source of funding for the Taliban and for other terror groups, according to the statement.
B-52 bombers and an F-22 fighter jet were used to hit some of the drug facilities as part of the new US strategy in Afghanistan announced in August, according to AFP.
It was the first deployment of the advanced F-22 in Afghanistan, said Gen. John Nicholson, commander of US and NATO forces in the country, according to TOLOnews.
Afghan and coalition forces will keep attacking drug-producing and -trafficking operations, said Nicholson, adding that coalition forces will stand by Afghanistan in fighting both drugs and terrorism.
If the Taliban do not come to peace talks, coalition and Afghan forces will continue to fight them, Nicholson said in a Kabul news conference Monday (November 20).
