Adam Hartman
26 November 2007
Windhoek — Three tonnes of illegal firearms and ammunition collected during a joint police operation in northern Namibia and south Angola were destroyed in the desert near Walvis Bay on Friday.
According to the operation's co-ordinator, Oshana Regional Police Commander Ndahangapo Kashihakumwa, Operation Mandume was the first operation of its kind and magnitude in Namibia and involved the police of Namibia, Angola and South Africa.
Operation Mandume started at the beginning of last month with the collection of illegal weapons - be it found in the bush, confiscated or handed in by the public. According to Kashihakumwa, the operation focused on the Omusati, Ohangwena and Kavango regions of Namibia and the Cunene and Cuando-Cubango provinces in south Angola. "These are areas where the decades-long war was, especially where Unita was very active," he said. The cache included mines, rifles, anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns, rockets, grenades, mortars and bullets.
Kashihakumwa said the operation was probably not the last of its kind, and that this was only a demonstration of what co-operation between the police forces of the SADC region could achieve. He said future operations of this type would be spearheaded by the police chiefs of the SADC region.
According to him, there are still many illegal and forgotten weapons and ammunition scattered over previously war-torn areas, and it would take many years to rid the region of them all. "The main reason why we had such an operation is our effort to save and preserve lives of the people of the southern African region.
We want the people to be free from the destructive consequences of past wars," he said. "It also shows our mutual interest in the safety of our people, and what we can do together to ensure this."
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