WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The United States has placed  50 suspected Afghan drug traffickers with ties to the Taliban  on a Pentagon target list to be captured or killed, The New  York Times reported yesterday, citing a Congressional report to  be released this week.

Major drugs traffickers with proven links to the Taliban  have been given the same target status as insurgent leaders,  and can be captured or killed at any time, two U.S. generals  serving in Afghanistan said in interviews with the Senate  Foreign Relations Committee, which is releasing the report.

The New York Times said the generals told Senate staff  members that there are about 50 major traffickers who  contribute money to the Taliban on the list.

The pursuit of Afghan drug lords reflects a major shift in  U.S. policy and is likely to raise legal concerns from some  NATO countries that have troops in Afghanistan, the newspaper  said.

U.S. military commanders have told Congress they are  convinced that the policy is legal under the military’s rules  of engagement and international law, the report said.

They also said the move is an essential part of a new plan  to disrupt the flow of drug money that is helping finance the  Taliban insurgency, the Times reported.

Several people suspected of ties to drug trafficking have  already been captured and others have been killed by the U.S.  military since the policy went into effect earlier this year,  the Times reported, citing a senior military official with  direct knowledge of the matter.

Pentagon spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Ryder, would  not comment on the Senate report nor directly address the  existence of the target list, the newspaper said.

However Ryder said it was “important to clarify that we are  targeting terrorists with links to the drug trade, rather than  targeting drug traffickers with links to terrorism.”