massive weapons cache seized in afghanistan
' q+ t0 e6 z) p+ m7 c9 O thousands of rockets, mortars and anti-aircraft ammunition have been seized in central afghanistan in the largest cache of militant weapons discovered in months, a government spokesman said sunday.& R& _, `- c- Y. h0 l6 w
the arms were to be used to subvert crucial legislative elections on sept. 18, defense ministry spokesman gen. mohammed saher azimi said.8 z/ p* A9 C2 P! d% Z9 f
the raid in ghazni province's khogyani district saturday netted some 2,000 surface-to-surface rockets, 3,000 mortar rounds, 500 artillery shells and 100 boxes of anti-aircraft bullets, he said. |' {$ n' g: f
"the enemy planned to use them to sabotage the elections," azimi said. "this was a very important operation to prevent the killing of civilians."* B* @, P$ W/ }; _4 \
he declined to give any other details about the find, including whether the taliban were suspected to have stockpiled the cache or whether anyone had been arrested.& l3 y9 ~6 v* n# Z, t7 E
afghan officials have warned that the taliban and al-qaeda have launched a joint campaign to disrupt the september elections — the next key step toward democracy after a quarter century of war. since march, a major upsurge in fighting has left more than 800 people dead, more than half of them suspected insurgents, according to u.s. and afghan officials. |