Large munitions dump discovered in southern Afghanistan

BBC Monitoring ^ | August 06, 2005

[knighthawk]

Text of report by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Ghazni, 6 August: Security forces discovered a large munitions dump in the Khogiano area of [southern] Ghazni Province on 5 August.

Ghazni Security Commander Abdorrahman Sarjang said some 40-truck-load of ammunition was discovered in the Turkan area of Khogiano. The cache included Sakr-20 and BM-12 missiles, mortar, artillery and RPG shells.

He said Turkan is a remote mountainous area and once was a major base of the former mojahedin.

Due to the remoteness of the area, moving the cache is a difficult task, the security commander told Pajhwok News Agency. He said the cache would be moved to the depots of the province's security command.

Khial Mohammad, 45, a resident of Turkan, said more heavy-weapon depots still existed in the area, but said searching and moving them in such a mountainous area would prove difficult.

Some two weeks ago, the Afghan army discovered some heavy and light weapons as well as a large cache of ammunition in an area to the west of Khogiano also.

Source: Pajhwok Afghan News website, Kabul, in Pashto 1020 gmt 6 Aug 05

[knighthawk]

Ping

[freeangel]

Why try to "move" this cache at all? Blow it up right there.

[msnimje]

Whence came these munitions?

[aShepard]

Any "French" labels on the jackets?

[ncountylee]

Or German and Russian?

[ASOC]

That is likely old ammo, bad stuff to mess about with or move if so.

BTW -- I beleive the better phrase is "destroy-in-place"

From the DoD
Battlefield TECHINT doctrine operates under the premise that only those captured items wanted by the CMEC will be exploited onsite or evacuated to the CMEC. This means a lot of equipment will be left on the battlefield for routine logistics disposition. Capturing units must use common sense and their PIR and IR to decide if an item might be of interest to the CMEC. They verify their decision by spot reporting the item's capture through higher headquarters to the first echelon with an organic or attached TECHINT element.

The spot report is in the SALUTE format. Once the CMEC learns of the capture, it sends disposition instructions back to the capturing unit. These instructions could range from "send more information" to "prepare for item's evacuation as follows" to "destroy in place."

The SALUTE report is used because it is fast, does not clutter communication channels, and includes enough information for the CMEC to decide disposition or if it needs more data. Examples of SALUTE reports used to transmit intelligence information are in FM 34-2, FM 34-52, and FM 34-54.

[ASA Vet]

SAKR (Falcon) is a Egyptian weapons factory.
SAKR-20 is mentioned in old news reports, but isn't listed as an actual model.
The Afghani referred to the system as the SAKR-Bis(20)
It's probable that the 20 is a reference to the 20 km range of the
SAKR-18 which is the Egyptian model of the Soviet BM-21.

[tet68]

CIA 280625 (redacted)

DIST: 1990

COUNTRY: IRAQ

SUBJ: MANUFACTURED ROCKETS WITH POSSIBLE CHEMICAL WEAPONS
APPLICATIONS IN THE IRAQI INVENTORY

DOI: JANUARY 1985 - SEPTEMBER 1990
TEXT: 1.
CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE IRAQI WEAPONS
INVENTORY, IRAQ HAS SEVERAL THOUSAND MANUFACTURED
SAKR 20 AND SAKR 30 SURFACE-TO-SURFACE ROCKETS IN ITS
INVENTORY THAT CAN BE FILLED WITH AND USED TO DELIVER
CHEMICAL WARFARE (CW) AGENTS.
HOWEVER, THE IRAQI TROOPS DO NOT HAVE THE
TECHNOLOGY OR TRAINING TO SEAL THE SAKR 20 AND SAKR 30
MISSILE TUBES SECURELY AFTER FILLING THEM WITH A CHEMICAL
AGENT. SHOULD IRAQI TROOPS IN THE FIELD ATTEMPT SUCH A
PROCEDURE, THE CHEMICAL AGENT WOULD BE UNSTABLE AND
HAZARDOUS TO THESE TROOPS. FOR EITHER ROCKET TO BE
EFFECTIVE WITH A CHEMICAL WARHEAD, THE IRAQI FACTORY
TECHNICIANS WHO PERFORM THE SENSITIVE FILLING PROCEDURES
WOULD HAVE TO ACCOMPANY THE TROOPS THE
FORWARD AREA.

2. SINCE 1984, THE IRAQIS HAVE PURCHASED
APPROXIMATELY 100,000 SAKR 20 AND SAKR 30 ROCKETS AND
SEVERAL HUNDRED SAKR 20 AND SAKR 30 ROCKET LAUNCHERS
A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF THESE ROCKETS WERE PURCHASED WITH EMPTY
WARHEADS WHICH COULD LATER BE FILLED WITH A CHEMICAL AGENT.
ABOUT 1987, OFFERED
TO FILL THESE WARHEADS WITH BOMBLETS BUT THE IRAQIS
TURNED DOWN THE OFFER.

ACQ: 1990).


END OF MESSAGE

[ASA Vet]

Thank you kind sir.

[tet68]

God bless Google.
The net really is changing things,
it's not about knowledge, it's about
access TO knowledge.

[tiki]

Have a "buy one get one free" sale for Jihadists between 9:00 and 10:00 AM and then demonstrate the power of these weapons for them.

[Steel and Fire and Stone]

That is likely old ammo, bad stuff to mess about with or move if so.

======================================================================

I hope to God. Wonder what the shelf-life is on something with a propellant. I know Ammo can last 25 years, and be considered "fresh " for 4-5 years. But RPG's must have a useful shelf life of what, maybe 3 years? If it's really that old, air drop it to the Jahadists; maybe they can do us a service when they try to use it.

Otherwise, as Bush said, "your either with us or against us", and if this stuff was made recently (40 truckloads?!), someone must pay. Start with the Pakies, and move to the source country, blowing up things all along the way. I support this President and this war 100%. The ONLY thing I won't tolerate is a "Vietnamization" of the war, i.e. making it a political animal by NOT moving to the source of the fighters, money, and munitions. The U.S.A. just can't sustain another political war. It'll just kill this country, i.e. our future ability to defend the country.

SFS