CAMP BASTION (Afghanistan), Feb 8: Nato troops operating in Afghanistan should find drug traffickers and ‘eliminate’ them as they would Taliban militants and other insurgents battling the government, the counter-narcotics minister says.

“They are the same ... they are supporting terrorism in Afghanistan,” General Khodaidad said in an interview with reporters on a visit last week to inspect opium poppy eradication efforts in the southern province of Helmand.

“They are working the same networks,” he said of traffickers and insurgents both, particularly active in Helmand, heartland of a huge opium industry and a key battleground in the Taliban insurgency. “They are the same targets. Isaf must locate these targets and eliminate them,” he said.

Nato’s top commander, US General John Craddock, came under fire last month for a similar suggestion, telling commanders he wanted Isaf troops “to attack directly drug producers and facilities throughout Afghanistan.” —AFP