Updated: A MARINE from York was attacked by a mutilated guard dog as he played his part in a daring raid on Afghan drug factories, which led to narcotics worth millions of pounds being seized.

Hundreds of British and Afghan troops stormed into four compounds in war-torn Helmand province to snatch heroin and drug-making chemicals with an estimated street value of £50 million, as well as smashing facilities for making improvised bombs.

Now one of the 700 troops involved in Operation Diesel – 27-year-old Marine Simpson, who is from York, but whose first name has yet to be released – has revealed how he and his colleagues came face-to-face with an earless, tail-less canine defender of one of the targeted factories as they launched their crackdown on the Afghan drug industry.

“I went in with 8 Troop to search the compounds – we found a big 10kg bag of raw, wet opium, an AK variant rifle, two handguns and ammunition,” he said.

“In one of the compounds, we were attacked by a massive guard dog – one which they had cruelly cut its ears and tail off.”

The series of raids were carried out in the notorious Sangin Valley, which has been labelled the “heartland” of the Taliban by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Troops destroyed 1,295kg of wet opium, which is believed to have a street value of more than £6 million when turned into heroin, as well as chemicals used in the manufacture of the potentially lethal drug during five days of combat.

The MoD said the quantities of ammonium chloride, acetic anhydride, sodium chloride and calcium hydroxide discovered were enough to have produced drugs worth more than £50 million, while Kalashnikov assault rifles, heavy-calibre machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and motorbikes modified for carrying out suicide attacks were also snatched.

The Operation Diesel squads have been praised for their bravery by Defence Secretary John Hutton, who said the seizures would starve the Taliban of crucial funding and prevent the drugs flooding on to the streets of the UK.

“Our dedicated and professional forces have once again taken the fight to the enemy,” he said.

“Their bravery, coupled with the size of sophistication of our firepower, has cleared the enemy from large areas of Helmand, bringing security and governance to more of the province.”

Brigadier Gordon Messenger, of the Royal Marines, commander of Task Force Helmand, hailed the operation as “a clinical precision strike” which would boost the Afghan authorities’ ongoing battle against their country’s lucrative drugs trade – where 90 per cent of the world’s heroin supply comes from.

Operation Diesel involved British troops from 45 Commando Royal Marines, 42 Commando Group Royal Marines, 3 Commando Brigade’s Reconnaissance Force, 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales Royal Regiment and the Armoured Support Group.

* If you know Marine Simpson, phone Mark Stead at The Press on 01904 567131.