NATO's top commander has accepted suggestions from two generals to tone down orders for tackling drug lords and laboratories in Afghanistan, an alliance spokesman said Wednesday.

US General John Craddock came under fire after telling commanders that he wanted troops in the 50,000-strong NATO-led security force "to attack directly drug producers and facilities throughout Afghanistan."

His "guidance" — a first step before issuing orders — for handling such people was leaked to German news magazine Der Spiegel, and sparked an internal security probe at NATO.

"The discussion within the chain of command has now been completed," NATO spokesman James Appathurai told reporters at alliance headquarters.

He said that Egon Ramms, the German leader at NATO Command in the Netherlands, which is currently in charge of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and ISAF commander David McKiernan, had been consulted.

"The guidance provided up the chain from General Ramms and General McKiernan was accepted by General Craddock," he said.

"ISAF forces will be able to engage against narcotics facilities and facilitators where they provide material support to the insurgency."

Spiegel said that McKiernan's Kabul office had sent a letter claiming that Craddock had been trying to create a "new category" in the rules of engagement for dealing with opposing forces. Ramms too had been critical.

Craddock's mandate as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) ends in June.

Appathurai insisted that "everything that will be done at ISAF will be done fully in compliance with international law, with the laws of armed conflict, as well as national laws."

The Taliban, ousted from power seven years ago by a US-led coalition, has been reaping close to 100 million dollars (77 million euros) a year from the opium trade and using the proceeds to fund its insurgency.

Afghanistan produces around 90 percent of the world's illegal opium, much of which is turned into heroin inside the country and exported to Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.

The bulk of Afghanistan's opium production is centred in the south of the country, which is also the heart of the Taliban-led insurgency.

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