Dozens of Taliban leaders in Afghanistan were killed last week after U.S. Marines used rocket artillery to strike them down, according to a top American general.

“Through some great intelligence work by our Marines, led by Brigadier General Ben Watson, they tracked 50 of them to a meeting in Musa Qal’ah and struck them with HIMARS rockets, killing dozens of the enemy leaders,” Nicholson said.

The rocket strikes were fired from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, commonly known by its acronym, HIMARS.

The deputy shadow governor of Helmand—a senior Taliban leader—was among those killed, as were a number of other leaders below his rank.

Nicholson said the group of commanders was planning to discuss operations in Farah and noted that many of them were involved in drug trafficking in Helmand, their main source of revenue.

“Helmand’s been the financial engine of the insurgency. The Taliban draws 60 percent of their revenue from narcotics, criminal activity,” he said.

While the U.S. general said they had achieved a “disruptive effect” at the local level in Helmand, he stressed that it did not have much broader strategic significance in the fight in Afghanistan.

The strike hit a village in an isolated area and killed at least two senior figures, also one believed to be a trainer of suicide bombers.

The U.S. has been fighting the insurgent group for more than 16 years.