BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A spokesman says NATO defense ministers have agreed their troops can target drug facilities that finance the Afghan insurgency. James Appathurai told reporters Friday that NATO troops in Afghanistan would act with Afghan authorities to move against “facilities and facilitators” who use drugs to raise funds for the Taliban. The United States has been trying to persuade allies to strike back by hitting the narcotics trading networks and laboratories where opium produced by poor Afghan farmers is transformed into heroin for the world market.—-Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]
NATO: Troops can target Afghan drug operations
By The Associated Press
October 11, 2008