Marines Uncover 30 Tons of Ammunition in Mogadishu Pit

U.S. Marines found almost 30 tons of ammunition buried in the ground about half a mile from the soccer stadium, their main base in Mogadishu.

The discovery overnight was based on intelligence, indicating that the multinational force in Somalia has moved on from the earlier stage in which its big weapons hauls came from raids of well-known arms markets.

“We don’t just stumble onto weapons caches like this,” U.S. military spokesman Col. Fred Peck said Wednesday. “There is work that goes into it.”

Italian troops found another cache of arms and artillery shells Tuesday evening about one mile from Mogadishu port.

And U.S. military police found almost 350 mortar shells near a former cigarette factory.

The Marines who found the largest cache were stripped to the waist, sweat glistening on their backs and chests, when an officer approached.

“Sir, this thing’s getting bigger by the minute,” Lt. Jeff Slaga, 24, a Marine platoon leader from Houston, reported to his company commander.

Capt. David Rababy surveyed the scene and smiled.

Two trucks loaded with a vast assortment of ammunition stood nearby. Scattered here and there on the ground were piles of more ammunition, waiting to be loaded onto other trucks.

Rababy’s men and soldiers from the 13th Explosive Ordnance Demolition Company participated in the removal of the weaponry.

Slaga’s platoon had been led to the site Tuesday afternoon by an informant. They found seven young Somalis ostensibly guarding several pieces of heavy construction equipment in a large lot surrounded by a masonry wall.

“The Somalis started getting real nervous, like they wanted to get out of here,” Slaga recalled. “One of my sergeants got suspicious, jerked up a tarp by a bulldozer and-- voila !”