Tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition inexplicably disappeared this past Wednesday from the Be'er Sheva Airfield (Teyman Airfield) military base in southern Israel.
The ammunition was stolen from the bunker at the base where the Givati Brigade headquarters are located. The stolen items included 20,790 5.56 mm bullets, 690 7.62 mm bullets from an FN MAG-type machine gun, and 8,740 bullets with a diameter of 5.56 mm from a Negev type machine gun.
The circumstances of the theft are being investigated by the military police, and upon completion of the investigation, the findings will be forwarded to the military attorney's office for examination.
The head of the IDF Southern Command, Major General Eliezer Toledano, appointed Colonel Elad Tzuri, commander of the Harel Brigade, to conduct a systemic examination and draw lessons regarding the conditions that made the theft possible. It was also decided to reinforce the airfield with an additional team of soldiers, and to improve the defense measures in the area of the base in general and near the ammunition depots in particular.
A statement from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that "The IDF will continue to work to reduce the phenomenon of ammunition and weapon thefts from the military camps through dedicated action plans and the allocation of resources to improve the defense infrastructure."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)