Operation near kabul: US raid on arms cache incites protests

KABUL:

The US forces conducted a raid to destroy a cache of weapons north of Kabul early on Monday morning, a US army spokesman said.

“US Forces conducted an operation to destroy a cache of munitions that could be used to conduct attacks against Afghans and Coalition Forces,” public affairs director Colonel Brian Tribus said.

However, Afghan residents took to the streets in Parwan province in protest, briefly obstructing the highway to the capital.

Local authorities complained they had not been consulted ahead of time. “As the operation was launched without coordination of local authorities, it made people angry,” a spokesman for the governor, Wahid Sediqqi, said.

Solo US operations are legal under a bilateral security agreement the two nations signed last year. The raids remain a divisive subject in Afghanistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2015.