KABUL - The Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Saturday rejected as groundless an American watchdog’s report about the disappearance of some weapons provided to Afghan security forces.

More than 40 percent of weapons provided by the US to Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police have gone missing, said the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

The report said two systems -- the Operational Verification of Reliable Logistics Oversight Database, or OVERLORD, and the Security Cooperation Information Portal, or SCIP, which were put in place to keep track of the weapons, are filled with errors and discrepancies.

“The databases did not always match. Some records were duplicated, and some records were incomplete... missing information could result in the inability to locate weapons,” it said.

The report added of the 474,823 total serial numbers recorded in OVERLORD, 43 percent, or 203,888 weapons, had missing information and/or duplication. In instances serial numbers of weapons were repeated two or three times in OVERLORD as well as in SCIP.

Many of the nearly 750,000 weapons handed over by the US Department of Defense to Afghan forces could “go on the black market and enter another country,” feared Jeffrey Brown, senior audit manager for SIGAR.

The report noted that at least 112,000 weapons, including AK-47s and NATO-standard weapons, such as M-16s, had been provided to Afghan security forces.

But the Interior Ministry said it had correct information on distribution, safety and retake of all weapons and military vehicles being used by police. The ministry said it remained accountable to the relevant departments at any time.

“We keep reliable and timely information about the distribution, use, retake, disappearance and depreciation of weapons, ammunitions and vehicles being used by police.”

In a statement, MoI said it was ready to cooperate and share necessary information with any national and international organisations in this regard. (Pajhwok)