Two Afghan commandos pull watch for enemy movement as their comrades secure and clear the Loy Chareh bazaar during Operation Siege Engine, where Afghan and Coalition forces seized and destroyed more than 17,271 kilograms of narcotics. Afghan national army commandos with the 205th Corps, assisted by U.S. Special Operations forces, conduct a multi-day cordon and search of the Loy Chareh bazaar, a known Taliban narcotics hub, in the village of Marjeh located in Nadi Ali District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, May 19-22. At the end of the multi-day mission the combined forces seized and destroyed 17,500 kilograms of opium, 38 kilograms of processed morphine, 201 kilograms of processed heroin, 200 pounds of hashish and 75,000 kilograms of poppy seeds, as well as narcotics processing materials and massive amounts of bomb-making material. Photo by Spc. Joseph A. Wilson

Afghan national army commandos with the 205th Corps, assisted by U.S. Special Operations forces, conduct a multi-day cordon and search of the Loy Chareh bazaar, a known Taliban narcotics hub, in the village of Marjeh located in Nadi Ali District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, May 19-22. Photo by Spc. Joseph A. Wilson

Afghan national army commandos with the 205th Corps, assisted by coalition forces, conducted a multi-day cordon and search of the Loy Chareh bazaar, a known narcotics hub, in the village of Marjeh, located in Nadi Ali District, Helmand province, May 19-22. At the end of the mission the combined forces had gathered and destroyed 17,500 kilograms of opium, 38 kilograms of processed morphine, 201 kilograms of processed heroin, 90 kilograms of hashish, and 75,000 kilograms of poppy seeds, as well as narcotics-processing materials and massive amounts of bomb-making material. Additionally, 60 insurgents were killed.

Bomb-making material found in Loy Chareh bazaar