US aircraft hit Taliban drug labs in Afghanistan

US aircraft have targeted drug producing facilities in Afghanistan for the first time under a new strategy aimed at cutting off Taliban funding, AP reported, citing the top US general in the country. Gen. John Nicholson said Monday the raids, involving an F-22 bomber, were carried out Sunday in the southern Helmand province, as part of the strategy unveiled by President Donald Trump in August. The insurgents generate an estimated $200 million a year from poppy cultivation and opium production, Nicholson said. Afghanistan’s opium production has nearly doubled this year compared to 2016, while areas that are under poppy cultivation rose by 63 percent.