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During a press conference on Tuesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro blamed the disappearance of millions of rounds of ammunition, thousands of grenades, and numerous missiles on internal corruption within the country's military.

BBC News

The missing items came to light during a surprise inspection at two military bases, Tolemaida and La Guajira, between February 12 and April 1. According to Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez, the probe was still underway.

Yahoo! News

However, the President said he suspected that either Colombian rebels or Haitian gangs had illegally purchased the ammunition. He stated that networks consisting of individuals within the armed forces engaged in the illicit arms trade would be the only plausible explanation for the missing items.

More than 808K rounds of ammunition and approximately 10K grenades were missing from the Tolemaida base stockpile. Over 9K grenades and 4.2M rounds were lost from the La Guajira base. Two Spike missiles, 37 Nimrod missiles, and 550 rocket-propelled grenades were also missing.

Since taking office in 2022, Petro, the country's first left-wing president, has held peace talks with some of the country's remaining rebel factions, although warfare has escalated in other places. Critics claim that peace talks-related cease-fires have strengthened rebel positions and increased their grip over communities.

Judges have found Colombia's security services guilty of corruption and human rights abuses. Officials have been demoted. Sixty years of internal conflict have left 450K Colombians dead.

Colombian military loses millions of bullets due to corruption, says president

Colombian military loses millions of bullets due to corruption, says president

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Colombian military loses millions of bullets due to corruption, says president

Colombian military loses millions of bullets due to corruption, says president

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