A week ago, unknown persons stole about 20,000 ammunition shells from the army in Germany, which were transported in a truck belonging to a civilian transport company, in what the German Ministry of Defense described as a related security incident. The digital version of Der Spiegel.
A spokeswoman for the Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) said in statements to the weekly newspaper: “We take the theft seriously, as this type of ammunition should not fall into the wrong hands.”
The Ministry confirmed that the theft occurred on the night of Monday, November 24, to Tuesday, November 25, last week, when a person opened the loading platform of the truck that was parked in a parking lot in the town of Burg, near the city of Magdeburg in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, east of the country, and stole the ammunition.
The theft was not discovered until the next day, when the transport company’s driver arrived at a nearby barracks to deliver the ammunition.
There are 10,000 shells missing for pistols, 9,900 for assault rifles, and ammo for fog generation.
After an initial inspection, it was found that approximately 10,000 rounds of combat ammunition for handguns, 9,900 rounds of training ammunition for assault rifles, and mist generating ammunition were stolen. Unlike handgun projectiles, blank ammunition is not real, accurate ammunition Spiegel Online.
According to the ministry, the civilian transport company failed to adhere to safety rules for sensitive transportation of munitions.
The transport company is supposed to be responsible for the security of the German army’s cargo at all times, but during last week’s flight this rule was not respected.
According to preliminary investigations, the stop between Monday and Tuesday night was not planned. It seems that the driver spontaneously decided to spend the night in a nearby hotel in the city of Burg, and the cargo in his truck remained unattended all this time.
RML (efe, Spiegel Online)