Commandos from Afghanistan’s 7th Special Operations Kandak conducted a night raid that liberated five Afghans from a Taliban “Red Unit” compound in Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Jan. 1, 2018. The Commandos also destroyed over 1,000 kg of hashish, denying $3.4 million of illegal drug trafficking revenue to the anti-government insurgency.
“The Taliban has turned into an organization that profits from the drug trade, and this is one of the motivations that their leaders have for continuing the fight,” said Gen. John Nicholson, NATO Resolute Support commander, in a Pentagon press briefing, Nov. 2017.
The Commandos eliminated seven members of the Taliban “Red Unit” defending the compound and detained an additional four fighters. The Afghan special operators also seized IED components, explosives, and a large cache of ammunition.
This is the third high-profile rescue by a Commando unit in the past two months. On Dec. 18, a team of Afghan Special Security Forces and local police rescued an imprisoned village elder who refused to collect illegal taxes imposed by the Taliban in Sharana district, Paktika province. On Nov. 19, 7th SOK conducted a night raid that freed more than 15 prisoners from a Taliban prison in Now Zad village, Helmand province. The Taliban imprisoned the Afghans due to their family members’ service with the legitimate Afghan military and police forces.
Once thought to have ambitions to govern Afghanistan, the Taliban have devolved into a criminal enterprise that uses profits from the drug trade, illegal mining, kidnapping for hire and murder, to fund attacks against the Afghan people.