Limassol, Cyprus - rocket propelled grenade and explosives disappear from army camp

cyprus mail

12 August 2010 - THE NATIONAL Guard was in the spotlight again when, after a routine check at an army camp, it was discovered that a rocket propelled grenade was missing from the depot.This would not have made the news if it had not been preceded, a few weeks earlier, by the theft of 172kg of explosives from a Limassol army camp. The loss of a single grenade would have been investigated internally by the National Guard without the police being called in and extensive publicity being given to the matter.
‘It’s not the first time army munitions were stolen’ Defence Minister says
12/08/10
DEFENCE MINISTER Costas Papacostas charged yesterday that the theft of munitions from the army was not a new phenomenon and that other administrations had swept such incidents under the carpet. Papacostas was responding to opposition criticism that the National Guard was facing a slackening off and disorganisation in light of the theft of some 170 kilos of plastic explosives from an army depot in Limassol and a missing anti-tank rocket propelled grenade from a camp near Nicosia. Police have since recovered 80 kilos of the ordnance.The chairman of the House Defence Committee, EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou said yesterday the recent incidents suggested a slackening off of vigilance and discipline in the armed forces...