November 17, 2008	Monday	Ziqa'ad 18, 1429

KABUL, Nov 16: Afghan and international troops destroyed an illegal drugs factory near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border after killing four men who had attacked them at the site, the US military said on Sunday.

The soldiers discovered the remote factory on Saturday in the southern province of Kandahar’s Spin Boldak district after a tip-off, said a US military statement. As the soldiers approached, four “insurgents” opened fire at them and were killed in return fire, it said.

The soldiers then found and destroyed one ton of narcotics, several 55-gallon drums filled with drug processing chemicals and other equipment used to make drugs, it said.

Afghanistan produces more than 90 per cent of the world’s opium, most of which is turned into heroin using imported chemicals.—AFP