Troops in Afghanistan Find Huge Weapons Stash

Romanian troops have found the biggest stash of weapons yet in Afghanistan -- two caves stuffed with thousands of rockets and more than 1.25 million rounds of ammunition.

The weapons were found Wednesday and Thursday outside the village of Hazarkhel, Col. Roger King, a U.S. military spokesman, said Friday. The village is about 220 miles southwest of Kabul.

In the caves near Hazarkhel, the Romanians found about 3,000 107-millimeter rockets, about 150 mortar rounds, 30 anti-tank mines and the ammunition, King said.

“This is the largest cache found to date by coalition forces in Afghanistan,” King said, adding that all the weapons were blown up at the site.

The 107-millimeter rockets have become staples in the guerrilla war being waged by remnants of Al Qaeda and the ousted Taliban against allied troops.

Five rockets were fired overnight at a U.S. base in Orgun, 100 miles south of Kabul, King said at Bagram air base. No one was hurt in the attack.

Also Friday, King said U.S. forces were concerned about a standoff between Afghan and Pakistani forces at the border near the eastern village of Ghulam Khan. The cause of the dispute was unclear and so far only warning shots have been fired, King said.

“Nobody’s engaging in a direct firefight as far as we’ve been able to determine,” he said.

It was unclear whether the Pakistani troops had crossed into Afghanistan, King said.

Allied forces in the area were trying to calm the situation, he said.