US forces claim finding big weapons cache

Published October 13, 2002

BAGRAM, Oct 12: US forces in Afghanistan have found two warehouses packed with arms and ammunition in the east of the country, one with enough weapons to fill 35 trucks, a military spokesman said on Saturday.

Colonel Roger King told reporters at Bagram air base that US troops could take days to count the weapons, which were found near the eastern city of Khost.

“The ammunition and equipment was in relatively good condition,” King said.

The weapons included rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, anti-tank weapons and a large quantity of ammunition.

The US military said the weapons could have belonged to renegade local warlord Padshah Khan Zadran, whose forces were driven from Khost by pro-government troops last month.

Zadran was once a key ally of the US military in the area in its hunt for Taliban.—Reuters