The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) said its robust swoop in Ashaiman and its environs on Tuesday, 7 March 2023 was targeted at suspects stabbed and killed a young soldier in the early hours of Saturday 4 March 2023.

The deceased Trooper Imoro Sherrif who is stationed in Sunyani, was in Accra on a Course and had sought permission to visit his parents at Ashaiman where he grew up. He was murdered in cold blood in the early hours of Saturday near the Amania Hotel in Ashaiman.

According to a press statement from GAF, its ”the military operation, which was sanctioned by the Military High Command, was NOT to avenge the killing of the soldier but rather to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous. Following the operations at Ashaiman-Taifa and Tulaku, the military personnel picked up about 184 suspects aged between 21 and 47 years old and have since handed them over to the Military Police and subsequently to be sent to the Ghana Police Service for screening and for further action”.

Also, ”during the course of the swoop, the personnel seized 29 slabs and 57 mini slabs of suspected indian hemp and amnesia among other forms of the narcotics” a communique from GAF added.

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) further disclosed that the swoop was not targeted at innocent civilians but was an intelligence-led operation conducted on suspected hideouts of criminals and crime-prone areas in the general area. GAF however acknowledges that regrettably some innocent persons might have been caught up in the operation and consequently suffered some distress due to the location they found themselves at the time.