Police arrest two, recover arms in east Afghanistan

Kabul, July 30 (AHN) Police took into custody two persons over keeping weaponry illegally and seized arms and ammunition from their possession in Laghman province, east of Afghanistan, on Wednesday, provincial police spokesman Mohammad Yunus Yusufzai said on Thursday.

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, Xinhua News Agency reported.

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.

Afghan security forces have stepped up operations against arms smuggling and other cross-border crimes across the country in recent months as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen security and maintain public order.

In March, Afghan border forces confiscated 30 Beretta pistols during a targeted intelligence-led operation in southern Kandahar province, a local security official said.

The operation was conducted by security personnel in the Tor Kach area of Maruf district, where the firearms were intercepted while being smuggled into Afghanistan from a neighbouring country, according to Nazir Ahmad Shakeeb, spokesman for the 205 Al-Badr Army Corps.

Shakeeb confirmed that Afghan security forces were actively working to curb arms trafficking across the porous border regions.