Text Fwd: Aerial surveillance over Korean camp in Afghanistan due

Korea Times
07-07-2010 21:09
Aerial surveillance over Korean camp in Afghanistan due
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff reporter

Korean and U.S. troops in Afghanistan will conduct aerial surveillance over the construction site of a Korean provincial reconstruction team (PRT) there, to detect possible attacks by local insurgents, the Joint Chiefs of Staff here said Wednesday.

The announcement comes a week after a hostile force fired rockets at the Korean PRT camp near Charikar.

The construction site was hit last week by two rockets presumably fired by an insurgent group. There were no casualties or any significant damage to Korean facilities under construction.

"In cooperation with the U.S. military, aerial surveillance operations will be held one or two times every day near the PRT construction site to thwart attacks by a hostile force," Col. Lee Boong-wu, spokesman for the JCS, told reporters.

Lee said the Korean and U.S. militaries have been actively exchanging intelligence on insurgent moves in Afghanistan since the base was hit by rockets.

"Surveillance equipment, including thermal observation devices, has been installed around the site," the spokesman said.

Construction of the Korean PRT base is scheduled to be completed by August or September, and other facilities will be set up by December, he added.

Seoul officials believe last week's rocket attack was a warning from an insurgent group a day before the main contingent of the South Korean troops arrived Thursday at the U.S. air base in Bagram.
gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

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* Related blog
http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2010/07/text-fwd-skorean-prt-site-in.html
Friday, July 2, 2010
Text Fwd: S.Korean PRT site in Afghanistan comes under attack