US, Afghan troops seize tonnes of opium, kill 17 Taliban

US and Afghan forces seized 50 tonnes of opium and killed 17 Taliban on Wednesday, the defence ministry said, as US President Barack Obama mulled his options for the increasingly war-torn country. The drug haul and insurgent deaths came in joint action between American and Afghan troops in the troubled south of the country, and also saw 1.8 tonnes of heroin seized, along with several Taliban. It was one of the largest drug seizures in recent memory, worth five million dollars, Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a defence ministry spokesman, told AFP.