Nato to attack Afghan opium facilities

NATO defence ministers agreed that “ISAF can act in concert with the Afghans against facilities and facilitators supporting the insurgency, subject to the authorisation of respective nations,” said spokesman James Appathurai.

The agreement came with a number of conditions, most notably that it happen in line with UN Security Council resolutions and under NATO’s existing operational plan, he said. Appathurai declined to go into detail about the deal, but said ministers would review the new steps - essentially a plan to hunt down drug lords and laboratories - when they meet in Poland in February. “The idea of a review is indeed envisioned,” he said, as the defence ministers continued their talks in the Hungarian capital Budapest.