US Marines Raid Taliban Opium Factory, Part 3 of 3

Today’s post is the conclusion of the video series; if you mised them, you can watch Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

US, Afghan and British forces have teamed up to strike out against the Taliban’s main source of income: Opium, as well as heroin and morphine, its two derivatives.

The Taliban has frequently—and ironically—accused US troops of causing “unnecessary collateral damage” and civilian deaths.

The United States says it takes every precaution to avoid civilian casualties. Despite that, the UN reported that a strike in the Afghanistan Province of Kunduz in 2016 may have claimed the lives of at least 10 civilians.

However, counteracting that claim is a statement from the US military that “US Forces Afghanistan has not found a credible allegation of civilian casualty.”

In a captured recording, a high-ranking Taliban commander, Mullah Manan (who is also known as the “shadow governor” of Helmand), was heard ordering the shutdown of urban opium labs.

In the same recording—taken from a Taliban channel on What’sApp—stated the facilities must be moved to “mountains and valley sides”.

Yearly profits from the sale of opium, heroin and morphine are an estimated $200 million a year. The Taliban uses these profits to find their efforts worldwide.