Colombia lacks ‘significantly’ less ammunition than reported by president | WKZO | Everything Kalamazoo

By Luis Jaime Acosta

(Reuters) – The total number of ammunition and weapons missing from the Colombian military is significantly less than the figures reported by President Gustavo Petro this week, according to a military document seen by Reuters that refutes Petro’s claims about the loss of Israeli-made anti-tank missiles.

Petro said on Tuesday that more than 1.6 million bullets were missing from two military bases in the provinces of Cundinamarca and La Guajira, as well as thousands of explosive ammunition, two Spike missiles and 37 Nimrod missiles.

However, the report cited by Petro – seen by Reuters – lists only 131,000 missing bullets and just under 6,000 explosive ammunition. There is no mention of missing missiles.

Two senior military sources told Reuters that the president had read from the wrong column in the report, which is why he gave the incorrect figures.

General Helder Giraldo, commander of the Colombian army, said an investigation had been launched to determine the exact amount of missing ammunition, but denied that any missiles had been lost.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Oliver Griffin)