Under pressure to combat endemic corruption and the rich trade in illicit drugs, Afghanistan announced on Monday it had jailed 11 government officials including a senior policeman for links with the narcotics trade.

Afghanistan has long been the producer of about 90 percent of the world's opium, a thick paste harvested from poppies to produce heroin. U.S. and Afghan officials worry that profits from the industry are used to fuel Afghanistan's raging insurgency.

reuters.com