Big Anti-Drug Operation Under Way In Afghanistan

Afghan officials unload a haul of heroin in Jalalabad (file photo) (epa)

March 8, 2006 -- Afghan anti-narcotics agents, backed by some 1,000 police and soldiers, today launched a massive campaign to destroy poppies in southern Afghanistan.

The operation is targeting the Dishu district of Helmand Province, the country's major poppy-growing area.

Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opiate-derived drugs.

The campaign comes two days after Afghan and United Nations officials warned that they expect poppy cultivation to rise this year, despite international efforts to stem it.

(AP)