Afghan and NATO troops kill 63 rebels, seize drugs

July 4, 2010

Sun Jul 4, 8:21 AM

KABUL (AFP) - Afghan authorities said Sunday that they killed more than 60

rebels in raids against Taliban militants and their drug-trafficking backers in

a restive part of southern Afghanistan.

More than 16 tonnes of drugs -- mostly opium -- were also seized in Bahramcha

district of Helmand province, centre of a Taliban-led insurgency and

Afghanistan's biggest poppy-growing region, the interior ministry said.

" Sixty-three terrorists were killed, " the ministry said in a statement,

referring to Taliban-linked insurgents.

" The operation was successfully completed today (Sunday), " the statement said.

Two factories for converting opium into heroin were destroyed and " a large

number " of weapons and ammunition were also seized in the raids, begun Friday by

Afghan counternarcotics commandos supported by NATO troops, it added.

The commandos also freed 10 villagers captured by rebels for allegedly working

with the government while arresting 10 rebels and drugs traffickers, the

statement said.

War-ravaged Afghanistan is the world's largest heroin producer, with annual

exports worth up to three billion dollars helping fuel its Islamist insurgency.

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