KSK scandal: ammunition procurement still unclear | tagesschau.de


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Status: 01.07.2021 6:06 a.m.

A year ago the 2nd company of the KSK was disbanded. An internal document shows loudly MDR researchthat the Bundeswehr still does not know how a former elite fighter was able to steal ammunition there.

Von Florian Barth, Florian Farken and Lucas Grothe,
MDR

Even more than a year after the weapons and ammunition were found at former KSK soldier Philipp S. it is still unclear how the ex-elite fighter was able to collect so much ammunition. According to a recent document from the Ministry of Defense, Bundeswehr investigators checked whether S. was able to put the ammunition aside while shooting. According to the document, however, the reviews have revealed “no inconsistencies”. The paper suits him MDR-Magazine exactly in front. In total, more than 6000 rounds of ammunition were found at S.

Another internal report from March 2021 said that Bundeswehr investigators had identified 17 shooting projects in which Philipp S. had the opportunity to steal ammunition or explosives. Special numbers, by means of which ammunition can be identified, would have coincided with shooting projects at the KSK and the ammunition found at Philipp S. The new document shows that these 17 shooting projects have been checked – with the result that has now become known.

Investigations are not progressing

But it also shows that the Bundeswehr’s investigations into the question of how S. got the ammunition, even more than a year after Philipp S. was found, apparently did not make any progress. It is also still unclear whether S. had help from others when he stole the ammunition from the Bundeswehr. Even civil court proceedings before the Leipzig Regional Court could not clarify this question. At the request of the MDR said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Defense that one could not comment on individual personnel matters and any ongoing investigations.

Last May Police officers searched the property of the then 45-year-old Philipp S. in Collm, Saxony, and found weapons, explosives and Nazi devotional objects. Investigators found him, among other things, two kilograms of the explosive PETN, nine stun grenades, a Kalashnikov, more than 6000 rounds of ammunition and magazines with right-wing extremist ideas.

AKK dissolves second company

In response to the discovery of weapons and other right-wing extremist activities in S.’s unit, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) decided a year ago to dissolve the KSK’s 2nd Company. S. had been considered one of the explosives experts here.

Another reason for the dissolution was a farewell party of the company commander Pascal D. in 2017, which was not sufficiently clear from the perspective of the ministry. The Bundeswehr investigators said they encountered a “wall of silence” about this complex.

Despite dissolution: most of the soldiers remain with the KSK

The dissolution of the 2nd Company was – as can be seen today – only the continuation of a process that had already been initiated after the farewell ceremony in 2017. For example, between the celebration and the official dissolution of the company, 26 soldiers – almost half – had to leave the unit. This is what it says in the official final report of the Ministry of Defense on the KSK complex. At the time of the official dissolution of the troops, 66 soldiers were affected. These were checked in a four-stage process by the MAD intelligence service. 65 of them had no concerns. 61 are still employed by the KSK.

For the left-wing member of the Bundestag Christine Buchholz, the right-wing extremism problems are still not resolved. From their point of view, the resolution has only “a symbolic value”. Buchholz criticizes that the clarification of “the highly dangerous right-wing networks and the structural causes of right-wing extremism” at the KSK were not in the foreground for the Ministry of Defense, but rather “the improvement of operational capability and publicity measures”.

The Green defense politician Tobias Lindner expresses himself similarly. The MDR He says: “The minister bears political responsibility for the fact that today – over a year after the incidents that triggered this reform process – so many questions are still unanswered.” Kramp-Karrenbauer must be reproached for the fact that, due to their careless and hesitant explanation, there is still no complete picture.

Marcus Faber, FDP politician and member of the Bundestag Defense Committee, also says he cannot assess whether the problem of political extremism has really disappeared. “Time has to tell and we can’t look into people’s heads,” he says MDR.

Future of the force

Despite the many scandals surrounding the KSK, the Ministry of Defense apparently sees most of the problems solved. In mid-June, Kramp-Karrenbauer announced that the elite unit should remain in place.

The ministry is obviously working intensively on the future of special forces within the Bundeswehr: In the Bundeswehr, a director for special forces is to coordinate international operations in the future, which could become even more important for the unit in the future. However, more transparency is also planned: So should after MDR-In the future, information will at least be reported on completed operations by the KSK. It is still unclear within what framework this should happen.



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