The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), has vowed that its officers deployed to curb illegal mining on water bodies and forest reserves will not hesitate to destroy all equipment found at illegal mining sites.
A statement by the Public Relations Directorate of the Armed Forces said visits by military personnel tasked to stop illegal mining in various areas have shown that the practice is still on going in some of the areas that had hitherto been cleared by Operation Halt II.
Meanwhile, Military personnel under the ‘Operation Halt’ taskforce have allegedly raided a licensed small-scale mining company in the Atiwa West District of the Eastern Region, Xtra-Gold Mining Limited, and set ablaze a structure that serves as offices of the Company.
This is the third time military personnel have visited the company, which has the NPP National Women’s Organiser, Kate Gyamfuah, as its General Manager. In their latest visit, the military personnel reportedly besieged the site and assaulted five private security guards before setting the site ablaze.
Some of the private security personnel who shared their ordeal said the military assaulted them without giving reasons.
They alleged that the personnel asked them to leave the site or face their wrath of which they obliged. Last week, military personnel stormed the site and burnt 16 excavators and a bulldozer.
