Kabul, Jan 30 (IANS) Afghan security forces have seized and confiscated dozens of firearms and a large quantity of ammunition in southern Helmand province during a three-month counter-terrorism operation, a local police official announced.
Mawlawi Sayed Wali Saeed, the provincial counter-terrorism manager, said Thursday 26 individuals were arrested in connection with the weapons haul, Xinhua News Agency reported.
On January 9, provincial police chief Mawlawi Abdul Haq Haqqani said police have discovered a weapon cache containing a variety of arms and ammunition in Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan.
The weaponry was recovered from Deh Salah district on January 8, the official added.
Without providing further details, the official stressed that no one has the right to keep or carry arms illegally, and police would spare no effort to collect weaponry from unauthorized persons to ensure law and order in the province.
Previously, police reported the collection of 21 firearms and the arrest of 18 individuals in eastern Parwan province on January 7.
As part of efforts to ensure law and order in post-war Afghanistan, the Afghan government has vowed to collect arms and ammunition from anyone living outside the security organs of the administration.
In November last year, a significant weapons cache was uncovered in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province, with three individuals arrested in connection to the discovery, local authorities confirmed.
According to Bilal Uruzgani, the spokesperson for the provincial police, the weapons were found hidden in a residential house. The cache included a variety of ammunition, hand grenades, rocket shells, bullets, and other munitions.
Authorities have initiated further investigations to identify other individuals who may be connected to the illicit arms stash.
In a similar incident, provincial police spokesman Mullah Ezatullah Haqqani said that police in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province have seized a cache of weapons and ammunition and arrested one suspect during a recent operation, provincial police spokesman Mullah Ezatullah Haqqani said.
According to Haqqani, the confiscated items include six Kalashnikov rifles, three hand grenades, a mortar launcher, an M16 assault rifle, a shotgun, as well as hundreds of bullets, cartridges and other illegally stored military equipment.
The ammunition was discovered in Helmand’s Gereshk district, where police also apprehended an individual suspected of involvement in the case. The detainee was transferred to custody for further investigation.
–IANS
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