Anti-galamsey taskforce clash with illegal miners; one dead

The anti-illegal mining task force commissioned last week have clashed with some illegal miners in the Ashanti Region, leaving one illegal miner dead.

The Public Relations Officer of the task force, dubbed “Operation Vanguard”, Major Gariba Pabi, said around 17:00 GMT Sunday, personnel from the Ashanti Region while patrolling the area, met some stone-pelting illegal miners at Wawasi, a community in Obuasi widely noted for galamsey.
He said the illegal miners subsequently fired a gun at the patrol, and in a move to protect themselves, the patrol team fired back to disperse the miners.

But after their escape, the task force realised that one of the illegal miners had been shot.

He was sent to the hospital for treatment but died later.
The identity of the deceased is not yet known, Major Gariba said.
The rest of the miners are currently on the run, but the PRO of the task force is optimistic that they will soon be arrested.

The “Operation Vanguard” is made up of 400 security men from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the Police Service.
The team has been divided into three groups to cover the Ashanti, Eastern and Western regions.
They have been asked to stay at their assigned regions until all forms of illegal mining have been stopped.