Kabul, Aug 2 (IANS) Afghan security forces have thwarted a firearms smuggling attempt and seized a cache of 24 assault rifles of various types in eastern Nangarhar province, the provincial government announced in a statement on Sunday.
The contraband weapons were being smuggled into Afghanistan from a neighbouring country when security personnel intercepted them at the Torkham border crossing, according to the statement.
The arms had been concealed inside a vehicle transporting Afghan returnees, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Officials provided no details on whether any individuals were detained in connection with the incident.
The operation forms part of the Afghan government’s wider campaign to collect unauthorised arms and ammunition from individuals outside official security forces and to curb weapons smuggling along border regions through the reinforced deployment of security personnel.
On July 29, police took into custody two persons over keeping weaponry illegally and seized arms and ammunition from their possession in Laghman province, east of Afghanistan, provincial police spokesman Mohammad Yunus Yusufzai said.
Both individuals were arrested in Dawlat Shah district and a quantity of weaponry, including five Kalashnikov assault rifles, three hand grenades and hundreds of bullets and projectiles, was discovered in their possession, the official added.
Police will not allow anyone to take the law into their own hands and create law and order problems by keeping or carrying unauthorised arms in the area, the official noted.
Earlier in June, Afghan security forces seized a cache of weapons and ammunition in eastern Paktia province, the provincial police office said.
According to the police statement, the weapons and ammunition were discovered during a security operation in the Nari Zhwara area of Dand Patan district, a border district adjoining Pakistan.
Among the seized items were eight Kalashnikov rifles, 12 pistols, 20 Kalashnikov barrels, three M4 rifle barrels, and a thousand rounds of pistol ammunition, the statement said.
Authorities said the weapons and ammunition were being smuggled into Afghanistan when security forces intercepted and confiscated the shipment.
–IANS
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