Off the wire
• U.S. stocks keep falling as Fed meeting begins  • Road accidents claim 23 lives in SW Nigeria state  • Five suspected cultists killed in Nigeria's oil rich state: army  • Oil prices drop on rising dollar  • News Analysis: Despite deadliest shooting massacre, U.S. unlikely to pass major gun control laws  • Portugal 1 Iceland 1 - latest  • U.S. stocks keep falling as Fed meeting begins  • Nigeria to address tomato crisis: minister  • Chinese Books Center opens in Warsaw  • Urgent: UN Security Council adopts resolution to ensure arms embargo on Libya  
You are here: 　 Home

German defence minister criticizes armed force for letting children play with guns

Xinhua, June 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

German armed force will not be allowed to display weapons that visitors can touch in the future, said German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday, following a revelation that German soldiers allowed small children to play with real guns in a recent open-house event.

On Monday, pictures were posted on internet showing preschool children handling machine guns and aiming imaginary targets in a barracks in southern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg at the weekend.

Bundeswher, the German armed force, was slashed by many people for allowing such young children to handle weapons.

"Despite clear rules, a regrettable mistake happened," said von der Leyen, according to publishing group Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.

Bundeswehr rules stipulate that children and adolescent under 18 years old should not be allowed to handle weapons.

"In order to prevent such things from happening again, I have decided that no weapons should be handled in future Bundeswehr open houses," von der Leyen said. Endit