The Taliban group in Afghanistan has stepped up efforts to shift tactics in a bid to maintain drugs production amid heavy airstrikes as part of a new campaign launched by the Afghan and US forces in southern Helmand province.

The provincial government media office in a statement said the Taliban group has instructed its fighters to reconsider their strategy in maintaining the drugs production and smuggling.

The statement further added that a letter of the group has been obtained from Kajaki district which instructs the group’s fighters to build drugs production facilities in places where they could not be spotted from the air.

This comes as the commander of the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission and the US forces in Afghanistan Gen. John Nicholson said last week that the attacks on Taliban financial engine will continue as heavy losses have been inflicted on the group and its associated in recent raids.

“In just over three days’ worth of operations, the Afghan 215th Corps, their special forces commandos, their air force, in close cooperation with U.S. forces, removed between $7 million and $10 million of revenue from the Taliban’s pocketbook,” Gen. Nicholson said.

He also added “And the overall cost to the drug trafficking organizations approached $48 million. So these strikes were just the first step in attacking the Taliban’s financial engine, and they will continue.”