KABUL, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's Defense Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak said Tuesday that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had agreed to help the war-torn nation eradicate poppy.

    "Defense Ministers of the NATO-member states agreed in their last meeting held in Budapest to assist Afghanistan government in destroying poppy fields and heroin labs," Wardak told newsmen at a press conference here.

    Wardak, who represented Afghanistan at the two-day meeting concluded in October 10, linked the increasing insurgency with illegal poppy growth in his war-battered country and hoped that NATO's support in war on drug could help stabilize peace and security in Afghanistan and the region.

    The General, whose country has topped poppy growing nations in 2008 by supplying 90 percent of the raw material used in manufacturing heroin in the world, emphasized "there would be no security in Afghanistan unless the poppy cultivation and drug trafficking are checked."

    Wardak also delivered messages from the NATO member states to newsmen here that durable stability in Afghanistan depends on strengthening Afghanistan national security forces.

    He said the participants at the Budapest's defense ministers' conference agreed to contribute for further support of Afghan army.     

    Earlier, the Untied States has earmarked 20 billion U.S. dollars to support the formation and equipping of Afghanistan's new brand 134,000-strong forces prepared by 2012.