Press Releases 2007
United States Celebrates Destruction of More Than One Million Small Arms/Light Weapons Worldwide
Date: July 9, 2007
Contact: Laura Gritz, US Embassy Spokesperson
Cell: 0799-079-294
On International Small Arms Destruction Day, we commemorate U.S. assistance programs which have destroyed over one million weapons worldwide. In a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy on July 9, U.S. Ambassador William Wood destroyed one AK-47, a symbolic “millionth weapon.”
The U.S. Department of State has contributed more than $5.8 million since 2004 to weapons abatement programs in Afghanistan in support of disarmament initiatives such as the Afghan New Beginnings Program and efforts to remove hazardous ordnance that pose a risk to the Afghan people. The State Department has funded destruction of more than 6,000 small arms and light weapons, 325 heavy weapons, and 2,757 metric tons of munitions in excess of Afghanistan’s defense needs.
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