KABUL – T*he US Forces in Afghanistan on Sunday released video footage thatshows Taliban drug factories being bombed in Farah and Nimroz provinceslast week. *

According to a US Forces statement, the airstrikes were carried out lastweek in cooperation with the Afghan Air Force (AAF).

The US Forces said in the statement 11 Taliban narcotics productionfacilities in Farah and Nimroz provinces were targeted, as US Forces andthe Afghan National Defense and Security forces expand counter-revenueefforts against the Taliban beyond Helmand and southern Afghanistan.

The precision airstrikes, conducted by US F-16s, A-10s and MQ-9s, were thefirst in western Afghanistan in support of the counter-revenue campaigndesigned to degrade the Taliban’s primary means of funding its operations –narcotic production, read the statement.

“The Taliban will have no safe havens. We will continue to exploit theirnetworks and decimate their ability to develop narcotics,” said Maj. Gen.James Hecker, commander, 9th Air and Space Expeditionary TaskForce-Afghanistan.

“They have become a criminal organization that profits from selling drugsand using those funds to conduct operations that maim and kill Afghans. Bycutting off the Taliban’s economic lifelines, we also reduce their abilityto continue these terrorist activities,” he added.

Afghan interior ministry meanwhile said these airstrikes are aimed ateradicating income sources for insurgents.

“In recent months all income sources of the Afghan people’s enemies havebeen under Afghan forces attacks from air and land,” interior ministry’sdeputy spokesman Nusrat Rahimi said.

A number of senators meanwhile said efforts should be increased to destroythese drug factories and address the drug addiction problem in the country.

“Bombing insurgents sources of income are the biggest and most significantones. Because such bombings will make them weak in terms of finances andthat will decrease their fighting ability,” senator Haji Abdul Rahimsaid.

According to the US Forces, the Taliban counter-revenue campaign, whichbegan in November 2017, has continued without pause through the winter,impacting narcotics processing facilities that generate an estimated $200million USD in revenue annually for the Taliban.

Overall, since November 2017, the campaign has conducted 75 strikes againstnarcotics production facilities in Afghanistan and continues to removerevenue from the Taliban criminal network. The counter-revenue campaigncontinues to demonstrate the US and ANDSF’s collective resolve to fightterrorism and bring stability and peace to Afghanistan, the US Forces’statement read.

“We will continue to help the Afghan security forces to send a clearmessage to the Taliban: they will not win on the battlefield,” Hecker said.