The government's anti-galamsey taskforce, Operation Vanguard, has defended the burning of excavators belonging to illegal miners during their operations.Â
The taskforce has been criticized for burning the excavators in the Ashanti region, when they could have been put to better use if  confiscated.
According to the Commanding Officer of the group, Col. William Agyapong, the team had no choice than to burn the excavators as they were frustrated by some miners.Â
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"Some of the illegal miners failed to cooperate with us and gave us no choice than to burn the excavators", he stated.Â
The Operation Vanguard made up of police and military has been set up, to fight against illegal mining in the Ashanti, Western and Eastern regions.Â
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