Category Archives: Hazards

Missile Warheads, stolen while under military guard, pose "no risk"

From the BBC, Missile warheads stolen from Romanian train

Romanian officials have reassured the public after the theft of more than 60 missile warheads from a train.

The warheads were taken from a railway car carrying military equipment to neighbouring Bulgaria on Saturday.

Officials said the stolen warheads could not be detonated because they were in component form without explosives.

Investigators say the missiles could have been stolen for their scrap metal value.

Romanian media said when the freight train stopped in Giurgiu, southern Romania, it was found that doors on the railway car had been forced and four boxes of 16 warheads stolen.

Officials are investigating how the theft could have happened while the consignment was being guarded by paramilitary police.

Bulgaria’s economy ministry said the warheads belonged to Grad missiles which are normally fired from multiple-rocket launchers.

In a statement it said the shipment was part of a transfer of “nonfunctional components and parts” for reprocessing at the VMZ factory – one of Bulgaria’s largest military factories – in Sopot.

Romanian officials close to the investigation told two daily newspapers that the warheads did not contain explosives.

Romanian police spokesman Florin Hulea also reassured the public, saying the warheads posed no risk.

via BBC News – Missile warheads stolen from Romanian train.

If the missiles posed no threat, why were they under heavy guard?

Pakistani diplomat shot in Nepal; earlier attack involved attempt to kill Pakistani diplomat with knives while on motorcycles

CNN via BBC, Pakistani diplomat shot in Nepal

Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN) — Two people on motorcycles shot and wounded a Pakistani diplomatic official in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Thursday morning, authorities said. Mehboob Asif, a visa assistant at the Pakistan embassy, was hit by eight to 10 bullets while he was riding a motorcycle to work, according to police. A Pakistan embassy official who did not want to be named said Asif was taken to the hospital and is now out of danger. He said authorities didn’t know a motive for the attack. “The Embassy of Pakistan is confident that the Government of Nepal would undertake investigations at appropriate levels to bring the criminals to justice,” Pakistan’s Embassy said in a statement. Although no arrests have been made, around 150 people have been rounded up for questioning, Kathmandu police chief Pushkar Karki said. The attack happened three days after a newly-appointed Minister for Energy Gokarna Bista was attacked with knives by two persons on motorcycles on Monday evening.

It’s hard to square “hit by  eight to ten bullets” with “out of danger,” but this might make more sense with more detail. The use of handguns on motorcycles is familiar; the two-assailant attack from motorcycles using knives seems rather amateurish.