The Northern Regional Minister Salifu Saeed has said some 14 tipper trucks and an excavator burnt following a crackdown on illegal sand miners along the White River at Nawuni near

He said "the office can confirm to your medium that the operation was conducted by Operation Vanguard."

Armed infantries of the Sixth Battalion deployed from their military base in Kamina Barracks in Tamale, Saturday, March 3, carried out a combative operation to intensify a crackdown on illegal sand winning activities in the area.

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According to reports, dozens of heavy sand mining machines including about 14 tipper trucks and an excavator were burnt by the soldiers who stormed the area by trucks.

Some residents and miners who saw the soldiers advancing towards the mining site said they counted about three military trucks loaded with heavily armed soldiers.

The unregulated operation by the miners have polluted the water source, caused deep environmental damages, pushed farmers away from farmlands and forced fishmongers to hang their nets.

Despite several efforts by the Regional Security Council, the activity persisted until management of the Ghana Water Company engaged national security personnel to combat the activity.

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Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has denied sanctioning the burning of at least 14 tipper trucks and an excavator at Nawuni.

The Regional Minister Salifu Saeed speaking on the development in an interview on Accra-based Class FM explained that Minister of Defence has oversight authority over the Vanguards.

He said they have "their own strategies that they have rolled out for the entire country."

He added: the burning of the trucks "was an order from above and they carried out the exercise...It was not REGSEC and REGSEC was not part of the exercise".