UK troops find 'bomb factory' in Afghan operation

London, Aug 1(ANI): The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said that the British troops targeting a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan have found a cache of bomb-making equipment.

The operation, which began before dawn on Friday, was aimed to remove insurgents active in Saidabad.

The MoD said that the "large find" of bomb-making equipment was found when soldiers, working alongside Afghan security forces, began searching and clearing buildings.

"Working on intelligence gained on the ground, the Royal Engineer Search Team (REST), moved in to search a suspected IED factory once the remaining buildings had been cleared by soldiers from 1 Lancs and their Afghan colleagues," The BBC quoted MOD, as saying in a statement.

Captain Brad Pino, of 13 Platoon commander, said: "We left at first light this morning to push round into an area we know that the insurgents have used before and previously there has been an IED factory."

"We've pushed out to clear the kalay (village) just to see if there are any insurgents still in the area and to find out what the local nationals know and whether they're happy that International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are here," he added.

Saidabad is one of the areas that UK forces were unable to clear during Operation Moshtarak earlier this year. (ANI)