US Bombs Opium Producing Laboratory Sites in Afghanistan, But Leaves Poppy Fields

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Michael Andrews told CNN, on Sunday, that the United States conducted several airstrikes on opium labs in Afghanistan.

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The airstrikes, Operation Jagged Knife, were part of a joint U.S.-Afghan offensive targeting the source of Taliban revenue – drug facilities in northern Helmand Province.

Commander of U.S. forces Gen. John Nicholson said 10 facilities were hit.

"We hit the labs where they turn poppy into heroin,” Nicholson told reporters in Kabul. "We hit their storage facilities where they keep their final product, where they stockpile their money and their command and control."

A report published by the United Nations Office on Drugs estimates that opium production in Afghanistan has, so far, increased by 87 percent in 2017 – the largest since the war started.

The general said a 2,000-lb bomb was used to destroy a facility and 50 barrels of opium, which held a street value of millions of US dollars. The Pentagon believes the Taliban earns about $200 million annually from the opium trade.

"We're determined to tackle criminal economy and narcotics trafficking with full force," Afghan President Ashraf Ghani posted on Twitter.

Nicholson estimated that there are approximately 400 to 500 such facilities in Afghanistan, supplying an estimated 85 percent of the world's opium and about 4 percent of the heroin in the United States.

"These operations will continue on in the coming days," Nicholson said.

"We are not going to let up," the commander said, adding that U.S. troops would only target the drug-producing facilities. "We are not going after the farmers that are growing the poppy," he said.

The United States deployed over 3,000 additional troops as part of the President Donald Trump administration’s new South Asia strategy.

Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan ambassador to the United States, said the move facilitates a collaborative effort that has preserved the lives of many members of the Afghan Security Forces.

“We are bracing ourselves for a difficult few months or perhaps year,” as the Taliban try to deflect the new military push in Afghanistan, Nicholson said, adding they will attack places like urban centers.