BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFP) Jun 10, 2003
US Special Operations Forces found three Blowpipe surface-to-air
missiles near a coalition base in eastern Afghanistan, a US
military spokesman said Tuesday.
"Special Operations Forces recovered three Blowpipe missile systems
in the vicinity of Asadabad yesterday (Monday)," Colonel Rodney
Davis told reporters at Bagram Air Base 50 kilometres (31 miles)
north of Kabul.
"The missiles were still in the original shipping containers and
are in excellent condition," he said. Asadabad is in Kunar province
bordering Pakistan.
It is not the first discovery of Blowpipe missiles in Afghanistan.
US Special Forces discovered a stash in November 2002 near
Bagram.
British-made Blowpipe missiles have a maximum range of four
kilometresmiles) and maximum altitude of 3,000 metres (10,000
feet), according to Jane's Defence Weekly.
They were used by the British in the Falklands war against
Argentine fighters and helicopters.
However, their speed of 340 metres a second is less than half that
of the US made FIM-92A Stinger, which was supplied to Afghan
mujahedin groups fighting Soviet invaders in the 1980s. The US
stinger also has a slightly greater range.
Davis did not provide any further details on the missile
find.
A US-led coalition force of some 11,500 soldiers is hunting down
remnants of the Taliban regime and their al-Qaeda allies in
southern and eastern Afghanistan.