Oliver Towfigh Nia
July 18, 2020•Update: July 18, 2020
BERLIN
More than 100 weapons and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition have disappeared from the inventory of the German armed forces and police, the daily WELT newspaper reported Saturday.
At least 60,000 rounds of ammunition have been unaccounted for in the German military and police force over the past 10 years.
This figure does not include around 48,000 rounds that went missing from the army's elite Special Forces Command (KSK) unit, which lately made headlines after far-right extremism was exposed among its soldiers.
The German Defense Ministry has reportedly launched an investigation into the incident.
The exact reason for the missing ammunition is not clear yet, a Defense Ministry spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, German opposition parliamentarians lashed out at the Defense Ministry for its handling of the scandal.
Tobias Pflueger of the radical leftist The Left party said: "The issue here is that right-wing circles are ready to arm themselves. The Left had repeatedly pointed out the enormous danger that existed if there were apparently existing right-wing or right-wing extremist circles within the Bundeswehr [German army] or police who had access to ammunition and weapons of war."
Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer must "address this issue with absolute priority," demanded Pfluger.
A Green opposition MP accused the Defense Ministry of "incredible sloppiness".
Tobias Lindner of the Greens told the Bild newspaper: "This shows the incredible sloppiness, if 60,000 rounds of ammunition can no longer be found."
"This should not have happened, if everyone had followed the regulations for handling ammunition," Lindner added.
