Across Asia: Afghanistan

6.5 tons of drugs burned

Afghan counter-drug officials destroyed 6.5 tons of drugs in a raging bonfire yesterday they said symbolized recent successes in Afghanistan's fight against opium poppies and heroin.

The drugs, which were burned in large pile on a sloping mountainside on the outskirts of Kabul, were confiscated by authorities over the last three to four months, said General Khodaidad, the country's counternarcotics minister.