Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Weapons Caches Found in Iraq and Afghanistan

U. S. soldiers found a weapons cache in Iraq, and Afghan citizens turned in a cache to coalition forces, military officials reported.

Soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, discovered a weapons cache while conducting cordon-and-search operations south of Baghdad yesterday.

The cache consisted of 60 and 80 mm mortar rounds, rockets, detonation cord, homemade rocket launchers, 30 mm rounds and four license plates. In Afghanistan, local citizens turned in a significant cache of weapons and ordnance to coalition forces at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost on Feb 19.

The cache contained 107 mm high-explosive rockets, 82 mm mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades, mortar fuses, small-arms ordnance, and an anti-tank mine. Explosive ordnance disposal soldiers recovered the cache and brought it to Forward Operating Base Salerno, where it was destroyed.

"This turn-in of very harmful weapons is a great example of the trust placed in us by the local population," said Col. Pat Donahue, commander of the coalition's Regional Command East. "This was a significant development in the quest of the Afghan people to move forward in an era of peace.”

(Above courtesy of DoD - American Forces Press Service and taken from MNF-I and CFC-A Press Releases)

No comments: