KABUL, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Afghan security forces have smashed three clandestine drug processing labs and discovered over 1,100 kg of illicit drugs in western Afghanistan's Ghor province, the office of the Deputy Minister of Interior for Counter-Narcotics said in a statement on Thursday.

Units of counter-narcotic police launched separate operations on the outskirts of the Ahmadkhail district of Ghor province, destroying the three drug processing labs and discovering 1,119 kg of illicit drugs, the statement asserted.

The statement added that the drugs were used in manufacturing heroin.

Security personnel have arrested three people on charges of smuggling 20 kg of illegal drugs of the opium type in northern Badakhshan province, the ministry said in a separate statement.

The Afghan interim government has stepped up its crackdown on illicit drugs and those involved in the business, vowing to fight the menace until the country is free from poppy cultivation and substances used in the manufacturing of heroin. ■