Troops in Afghanistan find munitions hidden in school

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afgha (January 11, 2008) - Afghan police and coalition forces found a munitions cache hidden in a boys school in Afghanistan's Oruzgan province yesterday following a day-long battle.

The joint patrol, which had received a report of insurgent activity in the area, was attacked in the province's Deh Rawood district with small-arms and rocket-propelled-grenade fire from insurgents in reinforced fighting positions on a hillside. The Afghan police and coalition soldiers immediately maneuvered to pinpoint the location of the insurgent attack.

Coalition aircraft dropped precision-guided munitions on the fighting positions, eliminating the threat; however, reinforcements from a nearby village began firing on the ground forces.

Combined forces searched the immediate area, including the village, and discovered the munitions hidden in the school. The cache consisted of 15 boxes of automatic machine gun ammunition and 20 rocket-propelled grenades.

"Hiding weapons in a school is a clear indication the insurgents have no concern for the citizens of Afghanistan," said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman. "Insurgents continue to threaten security in Oruzgan province. (Afghan national security forces) will continue to pursue the insurgents throughout the winter and the insurgents will not receive any respite."