5 October 2005

Kiwi's Destroy Largest Ammunition Cache to Date

Members of the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team (NZPRT) in Afghanistan have destroyed a large cache of ammunition.

The ammunition was accumulated from throughout Bamyan Province and was the largest cache destroyed to date by the 6th Contingent in Afghanistan.

Much of the ammunition destroyed was of Russian origin and included mortar bombs, artillery shells and a large quantity of small arms rounds.

It was destroyed in a single blast in the uninhabited Jare Surkhakzau Valley, northwest of the Kiwi base, near Bamyan City.

Most of the materiel recently recovered was a result of information volunteered to the NZPRT, and requests by village officials for the NZPRT to come and remove it. Weapons and ammunition caches are commonplace in Afghanistan; being held by parts of the population in case the peace breaks down and they need to arm themselves once again.

ENDS

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