24 rifle grenades, thousands of bullets stolen from IDF bunker

Military police launch investigation after break-in discovered at base in the north

Illustrative photo of IDF soldiers on the Golan Heights, Northern Israel, July 4 2007. (IDF Spokesperson/Flash90)
Illustrative photo of IDF soldiers on the Golan Heights, Northern Israel, July 4 2007. (IDF Spokesperson/Flash90)

Dozens of rifle grenade projectiles and thousands of bullets were stolen from an IDF base in the north of the country in the second such incident since the beginning of the month.

The break-in was discovered at the base’s ammunition bunker on Tuesday.

An initial probe found that 24 rifle grenades and some 2,000 5.56-millimeter bullets, the kind used in the IDF’s most commonly deployed assault rifles, including variants of the M-16, the Tavor and the Galil, were missing, Channel 2 reported. The rifle grenades are designed to be launched from the M-203 grenade launcher designed to be mounted under the barrel of an assault rifle.

Military police have opened an investigation into the theft.

The report did not say if the theft was from the same base that was hit earlier this month.

On October 2, the army said that a diverse cache of military weaponry was stolen from an armory on a base in northern Israel some time the day before or during the night.

The stolen equipment included anti-tank mines, ammunition for assault rifles, explosive charges and detonators.

Soldiers serving on the base discovered signs that someone had broken into the armory, and weaponry was also found to be missing.

“The Military Police and [the base’s] commanders opened an investigation into the incident,” the army said at the time.

For years, the army has struggled to stop thieves from making off with military-grade weaponry. The guns, explosives and — occasionally — missiles that are stolen from army bases generally make their way to organized crime and terrorists.

Earlier this year, after nearly three dozen M-16 assault rifles were stolen from a base in southern Israel, the army said it would be investing additional resources to boost security for military armories.

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