A shipment of German army ammunition was stolen from a civilian contractor’s truck parked overnight, sparking a serious investigation into the security breach.
BERLIN: A shipment of ammunition for the German armed forces was stolen last week from a civilian contractor’s truck.
An army spokesman told AFP the ammunition disappeared from the trailer of a transport vehicle that had been parked overnight.
German media reported that boxes containing about 20,000 rounds were taken from the truck near the eastern city of Magdeburg.
Der Spiegel reported the stolen items included 10,000 rounds of pistol ammunition and 9,900 blank rounds for assault rifles.
The driver had spontaneously decided to spend the night at a hotel in the town of Burg, according to the magazine.
The theft was discovered when the rest of the shipment was delivered to its destination barracks.
“The theft was immediately reported to the relevant security and investigative authorities,” the army spokesman said.
He added that they take the incident very seriously and are conducting a thorough investigation.
Police in the nearby town of Stendal confirmed an investigation was opened but gave no further details.
Armed forces sources told Der Spiegel the incident was unlikely to have been a random robbery.
They fear the transport was being watched and the perpetrators struck during the driver’s unplanned stop.
The contractor reportedly broke protocol by using only one driver instead of the standard two.
Germany recently approved a 2026 budget with significant new defence spending to revive its armed forces.
The ruling coalition has also agreed on a new military service model to attract more recruits.
