The Ghana Armed Forces has appealed to the public, especially, those in the Central Region to desist from attacking the military cum forestry patrols tasked to check illegal timber operations and arrest chain saw operators.

An official statement issued in Accra said military personnel on these patrols had been encountering acts of lawlessness and hostility from some unpatriotic local communities, who are bent on interfering with the work of the patrols.

The exercise has been going on in the Ashanti, Western, Central and Eastern regions.

The statement cited two examples of act of lawlessness, which occurred last month at Agona Swedru and Kwadzokrom near Breman Asikuma where the patrols were attacked after they had intercepted two trucks loaded with illegal sawn lumber.

The statement said, "the attitude and behaviour of such miscreants undermines the economic rationale behind the exercise to preserve the country's timber resources and the environment in particular".

It appealed to the public to support the team in their endeavour to rid the society of economic saboteurs.

It said, "they would not look on unconcerned for such acts of brazen lawlessness to be perpetrated on its personnel, whose professionalism have prevented the tension generated so far by such provocative acts from becoming explosive".

The Ghana Armed Forces has meanwhile received support from Ghana Cocoa Board to check the smuggling of cocoa beans across the nation's western borders into Cote d'Ivoire, to the detriment of Ghana's economy.

The board presented twelve pick-ups, eight motor bikes, one Pajero and a saloon car to the Armed Forces on Wednesday. The board said the Armed Forces would also receive a donation of 160 million cedis and a further 200 million cedis a month.

The Chief Executive of Cocobod, Mr. Kwame Sarpong told the ADM that the assistance is for the Armed Forces to mount regular patrols along the routes of cocoa smugglers. He said this would ago along way to stem the activities of the smugglers that is counter productive to the country's fragile economy.

The ?160 million is specifically to assist in the monitoring and intelligence work of the security agencies involved in the operation while the ?200 million a month contribution, is to meet the financial obligations of the forces.

He also urged all the institutions that are related to the cocoa industry to be more proactive in their duties to the farmers. "The Bank of Ghana must release funds for the purchase of cocoa beans early enough to pay farmers during the cocoa season," he said.

Receiving the items, the Minister of Defence, Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufour, lamented the high incidence of smuggling cocoa beans from Ghana into Cote d'Ivoire. He said the government is seriously concerned about the problem. He thanked the board for its assistance.