Washington, January 3 (RHC)-- A new report has revealed a kill list used by the U.S.-led NATO coalition in Afghanistan targeted not only high-level commanders of the Taliban, but mid- and lower-level operatives and even drug dealers.

The secret documents, at least some of which came from National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, span from 2009 to 2011. According to the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, which reviewed them, they show targeted killings were "not just viewed as a last resort to prevent attacks, but were in fact part of everyday life in the guerrilla war in Afghanistan."

In one case, a young boy was killed and his father injured by a British helicopter pilot who was targeting a suspected mid-level Taliban commander.

Another round of documents from Edward Snowden published by Der Spiegel show some encryption tactics have successfully thwarted spying by the National Security Agency. An NSA document describes "catastrophic" levels of difficulty penetrating the communications of users who employed a combination of different encryption technologies.