Afghan Commandos, US forces Destroy Weapons Cache in Badakhshan

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan-led force dis­cov­ered a large weapons cache in a remote vil­lage in Badakhshan province Wednes­day. The cache con­sist­ed of 78 107mm rock­ets with launch­ers, 47 82mm mor­tar rounds, more than 1,100 rounds of 30mm ammu­ni­tion, 8,000 rounds of 7.62 machine-gun ammu­ni­tion, 24 rock­et pro­pelled grenades, 60 fus­es and anti-air­craft artillery parts ‑includ­ing bar­rels. With help from pack-ani­mals sup­plied by vil­lagers, the cache was moved to a safe loca­tion before being destroyed. 

Afghan Com­man­dos from 1st Com­pa­ny, 5th Kan­dak inven­to­ry a weapons cache found in Naw­ci vil­lage, Badakhshan province Aug. 25. The cache find was a result of a joint mis­sion between the Com­man­dos, the Afghan Nation­al Inter­dic­tion Unit, the U.S. Drug Enforce­ment Agency and U.S. Spe­cial Forces. Source: U.S. Army cour­tesy pho­to Click to enlarge

Sol­diers from 1st Com­pa­ny, 5th Com­man­do Kan­dak, part­nered with agents from the Drug Enforce­ment Agency, the Afghan Nation­al Inter­dic­tion Unit and U.S. Spe­cial Forces, dis­cov­ered the cache in Naw­ci, a vil­lage sus­pect­ed of being a safe haven for Tal­iban drug and weapon smug­glers oper­at­ing in the area and an infil­tra­tion route for for­eign fight­ers oper­at­ing through­out the north­east provinces of Afghanistan. 

After enter­ing the vil­lage, the part­nered-force estab­lished secu­ri­ty around the cache site to pro­tect local vil­lagers and then held a shu­ra with vil­lage elders to dis­cuss any con­cerns the elders had. Because of the remote­ness of the vil­lage, the meet­ing was only the sec­ond oppor­tu­ni­ty coali­tion forces have had to speak with vil­lagers in Nawci. 

“The Com­man­dos and oth­er agen­cies involved in this mis­sion proved once again to be a for­mi­da­ble force, even in iso­lat­ed loca­tions,” said Lt. Col. Don­ald Franklin, the Spe­cial Oper­a­tions Task Force — East com­man­der. “The destruc­tion of this cache sig­nif­i­cant­ly increas­es the secu­ri­ty of the region and will lessen both the weapons and drugs being traf­ficked through the area.” 

Press release
Com­piled from Inter­na­tion­al Secu­ri­ty Assis­tance Force Joint Com­mand News Releases 

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