The Guyana Defence Force has called in the police to investigate the disappearance of a quantity of weapons from its storage bond at Camp Ayangana .

Kaieteur News understands that 32 assault rifles (AK-47) and five pistols were discovered missing at around midday yesterday.

However a statement from the army said that only five pistols were missing.

The army statement also said that a Warrant Officer and five soldiers who were the principal staff at the bond have since been detained.

According to Colonel Wilbert Lee, the discovery was made following an order issued by the Chief of Staff that weapons and ammunition at all army bases and locations be checked thoroughly.

This stemmed from the reported loss of ammunition at a military institution in neighbouring Suriname .

“As a result of that, the order was given. Checks are ongoing to determine whether other weapons are missing,” the statement from Colonel Lee said.

A source at Camp Ayangana told this newspaper that the missing weapons include M-70's; AK-47's and pistols.

The source said that investigations revealed that a mesh to the storage bond had been cut open and the mesh aback of the army's medical centre at Camp Ayangana had also been breached.

There were several reported cases in the past of missing army weapons.

However this incident represents the largest quantity of missing weapons from the Guyana Defence Force at any one time.

 Tuesday 02-28-2006