SHAH WALI KOT DISTRICT, Afghanistan – The Shah Wali Kot Afghan Uniformed Police conducted an air assault into an abandoned village to destroy a suspected weapons cache, July 30.
Prior to the mission, coalition forces confirmed there was no one in the village and had been abandoned for some time.
During the mission, an AUP pickup truck was discovered under densely packed grass used as camouflage. The vehicle was inspected by coalition forces who determined it was being prepared as a vehicle-born improvised explosive device. Due to the potential threat, the vehicle was destroyed.
The AUP commander said the vehicle was one of four stolen trucks. Special operations forces agreed to help them look into any possible past VBIEDs to help identify future threats.
“This mission significantly boosted the confidence of the AUP and was a good tactical learning experience for them,” said the special operations forces team commander.
The SOF team continues to assist, advise, and help build the AUP’s operational capabilities.
“This operation brought closure to at least one of their missing vehicles and provides caution, should they find another unaccounted-for AUP vehicle in the future,” said the SOTF-South executive officer. “Preemptive and proactive discoveries like these lead to greater security and are a credit to our AUP partners.”
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