Nearly 200,000 US firearms meant for Iraqi security forces are lost, according to a report from the US Government Accountability Office.

The report says poor bookkeeping by the US Department of Defence (DoD) resulted in around 110,000 AK-47 rifles and 80,000 pistols going missing in Iraq since 2003. A system for recording outgoing weapons was only established in December 2005, and a system to record receipt of weapons was put in place six months later. The DoD also blamed a lack of staff and said the electronic spreadsheets were too large to manage.

IANSA member Rachel Stohl, senior analyst at the Centre for Defence Information, made print, radio and TV appearances throughout the week criticising the DoD for the loss.

"It likely means that the United States is unintentionally providing weapons to bad actors,'' commented Stohl.