MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Police have discovered a mass weapon cache including 21 pieces of Kalashnikov assault rifles in north Afghanistan's Balkh province, head of the counter-terrorist unit of police in the province said on Monday.
Containing 21 pieces of Kalashnikovs, 11 pistols, a machine gun and several hand grenades, the weapon cache has been discovered recently, Mullah Ata Mohammad Bilal told reporters.
However, he did not say if anyone had been arrested.
In the meantime, Balkh's police spokesman Mohammad Asif Waziri said police had apprehended 80 people on the charge of involvement in criminal activities including possessing arms illegally over the past six months.
Similarly, police discovered and seized 19 pieces of weapons in the eastern Wardak province and thousands of bullets and projectiles in the southern Kandahar province days ago.
The Afghan caretaker government, which has collected thousands of arms and ammunition including battle tanks and artillery since assuming power in August 2021, has vowed to collect arms and ammunition from anyone outside the security entities. ■
