NATO, Afghan Police Seize 250 Tons of Suspected Bomb-Making Material
By VOA News
10 November 2009
NATO says 250 tons of suspected bomb-making material has been seized in a raid in the city of Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan.
Military officials say Aghan National Police and NATO forces recovered 227 kilograms of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and 5,000 components used to make roadside bombs in the raid Sunday on a warehouse in Kandahar.
A NATO statement Tuesday says 15 people were detained in the raid and 4,000 bags of fertilizer were found in a nearby compound.
Ammonium nitrate fertilizer is a key ingredient for making explosives and is often found in roadside bombs.
NATO also says a U.S. service member was killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. Officials gave no other details.
Also Tuesday, Japan's government pledged $5 billion in new aid for Afghanistan over the next five years to help rebuild the war-torn country.
Japanese media quote Foreign Ministry officials as saying the money will be used for programs such as job training for former Taliban members and bolstering the police force.
Japan operates two ships in the Indian Ocean that serve as refueling stops for vessels supplying the international effort in Afghanistan. The new government of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, which came to power in September, has said it will let its Afghan mission expire in January.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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