Machine gun goes missing at Bagani

A HEAVY machine gun disappeared at the Bagani Military Base last week while soldiers were guarding the bridge that connects the Caprivi and Kavango Regions.

Villagers told The Namibian yesterday that soldiers alerted them to the puzzling theft when they raided their homes over the past few days in search of the missing machine gun. It is not clear how the gun went missing, but villagers, recounting what soldiers had told them, said one of the troops had the PKM at the foot of the bridge on Thursday night when it disappeared.The soldier in charge of the weapon allegedly left it unattended for an undisclosed period.When he returned, the gun and its 200 rounds of ammunition were not where he left them.”Until now [Tuesday] they are looking for it.How can a soldier lose such a big weapon?” said a villager from Bagani.Namibia Defence Force (NDF) Army commander, Major General Martin Shalli, yesterday declined to comment, saying only that investigations were under way.The Bagani Bridge has often been well guarded.Apart from a military base nearby, successive armies, including the apartheid forces considered it a strategic spot.It connects the Caprivi to the Kavango region at the Okavango River.The Bagani Bridge was heavily guarded between 1999 and 2002 when the Angolan civil war spilled over into Namibia.The NDF also used the bridge as the borderline to escort motorists when bandits directed their attacks on those travelling between Katima Mulilo and Rundu.It is not clear how the gun went missing, but villagers, recounting what soldiers had told them, said one of the troops had the PKM at the foot of the bridge on Thursday night when it disappeared.The soldier in charge of the weapon allegedly left it unattended for an undisclosed period.When he returned, the gun and its 200 rounds of ammunition were not where he left them.”Until now [Tuesday] they are looking for it.How can a soldier lose such a big weapon?” said a villager from Bagani.Namibia Defence Force (NDF) Army commander, Major General Martin Shalli, yesterday declined to comment, saying only that investigations were under way.The Bagani Bridge has often been well guarded.Apart from a military base nearby, successive armies, including the apartheid forces considered it a strategic spot.It connects the Caprivi to the Kavango region at the Okavango River.The Bagani Bridge was heavily guarded between 1999 and 2002 when the Angolan civil war spilled over into Namibia.The NDF also used the bridge as the borderline to escort motorists when bandits directed their attacks on those travelling between Katima Mulilo and Rundu.