Afghan soldier: Huge numbers of rifles, pistols, machine guns, mortars and grenade launchers have been shipped to the country in an attempt to defeat the Taliban-led insurgency Photo: Reuters/The TelegraphTens Of Thousands Of U.S. Guns Missing In Afghanistan -- CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More than one-third of all weapons the United States has procured for Afghanistan's government are missing, according to a government report released Thursday.
The U.S. military failed to "maintain complete inventory records for an estimated 87,000 weapons -- or about 36 percent -- of the 242,000 weapons that the United States procured and shipped to Afghanistan from December 2004 through June 2008," a U.S. Government Accountability Office report states.
"Accountability lapses occurred throughout the supply chain," it says.
The Defense Department spent roughly $120 million during that period to acquire a range of small arms and light weapons for the Afghan National Security Forces, including rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
The military also failed to properly account for an additional 135,000 weapons it obtained for the Afghan forces from 21 other countries.
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More News On Missing Weapons In Afghanistan
Thousands of US weapons astray in Afghanistan: auditors -- AFP
US weapons in Afghanistan at threat of falling into Taliban hands -- The Telegraph
Control of weapons faulted -- L.A. Times
Military struggles to track Afghans' weapons -- AP
Afghan Arms Are at Risk, Report Says -- New York Times
Where Have All the Weapons Gone? -- Center For Public Integrity