On September 14, the 11th day of the operation, troops began moving ahead into Taliban-controlled areas of Pashmula.

The United Nations drugs office surveys cultivation in Afghanistan through satellite imagery and with teams on the ground, who have even worked in Taliban-controlled areas.

Diplomats said delays could cause Afghanistan to be divided into a Northern Alliance-controlled region and a Taliban-controlled area in the south, around Kandahar.

They were operating out of bases in Taliban-controlled areas of northern Afghanistan.

Most of those interviews were carried out by local cameramen because foreigners stand a good chance of being kidnapped if they travel to Taliban-controlled areas.

Banditry has become commonplace in the Taliban-controlled areas.

Farmers growing poppies in Taliban-controlled areas pay a tax to the insurgents, who then hire "day fighters."

The committee cut aid and withdrew nonessential foreign staff last week to protest the beating and robbing of 10 staff members in a Taliban-controlled area.

Two American officials said government information confirmed the drastic cuts in opium growing in Taliban-controlled areas.

"The ban on poppy cultivation has been very effective in Taliban-controlled areas," one American official said.