Germany’s Bundeswehr military said it had launched an investigation after tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition went missing from its inventory, a Defence Ministry spokesman confirmed to dpa on Friday.
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“If crimes are involved, it goes without saying that the public prosecutor’s office will be brought in,’’ the spokesman said, adding that the reasons for the missing stock remained unclear.
Newspaper Die Welt had previously reported that at least 60,000 rounds of ammunition had gone missing since 2010, citing a confidential reply from the government to a request for information from several parties in parliament.
The government reportedly said that, of more than 96,000 missing cartridges of varying calibres, only around 36,000 could be located.
This does not include 48,000 rounds that went missing from the army’s elite Special Commando Forces (KSK) Unit, which has come under intense scrutiny and criticism recently due to right-wing extremism in its ranks.
“We are now investigating intensively and assessing our practices not just in the KSK,’’ the ministry spokesman said.