Moscow defends anti-drug operation in Afghanistan

Kabul's angry reaction to the first joint US-Russia drug raid in Afghanistan was "not very understandable," a source in Russia's federal anti-narcotics agency told state news agencies Sunday.

"Afghan authorities were informed of the operation. Units from the country took part in the operation. Therefore, it is not very understandable why there has been such a reaction," the source in the Russian Federal Drug Enforcement Service (FSKN) told the ITAR-TASS News Agency.

A day earlier, Afghan President Hamid Karzai reacted furiously to raids on drug labs producing heroin and morphine that took place late Thursday in the eastern province of Nangarhar, calling them unsanctioned and a violation of Afghan sovereignty.

"No organization or institution has the right to carry out such military operations inside the territory of our country without permission and agreement from the government of Afghanistan," a statement from Karzai's office said.

However, the FSKN representative in Kabul, Alexey Milovanov, told AFP on Saturday that the operation was conducted by the Afghan Ministry of the Interior.

Russians "simply acted as advisers, according to an agreement between our two countries permitting the presence of Russian advisers during a drug raid," he said.

The drug raid came as NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen plans to hold talks next month in Moscow on expanding supply routes to its troops in Afghanistan via Russia.

Rasmussen also calls for more Russian helicopters and pilot training for Afghan forces.

Agencies