A FN Scar heavy machine gun that belongs to the Federal Police has been missing for 9 months. The news that the machine gun has been missing since March first appeared in the daily ‘Het Nieuwsblad’ and has since been confirmed by the Federal Police Service. It is not yet clear whether the gun was stolen or lost. The public prosecutor's office has launched an investigation.
The theft was reported back in March. The gun is a Scar machine gun. Scar machine guns are used by the Federal Police unit that guards buildings, including embassies. It was last seen at the Federal Police barracks in Etterbeek. According to newspaper reports, magazines and ammunition are also missing, but the police have not confirmed this.
The police are not providing any further details about the missing machine gun but have announced that security procedures at the Etterbeek armory have since been modified.
In the past, the FN Scar machine gun was reserved exclusively for the Federal Police’s special units. However, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, the police purchased 1,500 of the machine guns for various other units.