'Millions missing' from Iraq fund

Not all the Iraqi training money can be accounted for

A $5.2bn (£2.6bn) fund used to train and equip Iraqi security forces cannot be shown to have been used properly, US military auditors say in a new report.

Sloppy accounting by the US army command meant there was no paper trail for much of the spending, they say.

The report, based on a visit from March to May this year, said high levels of violence made it hard to oversee management of the fund.

However, it also said commanders had begun implementing recommended changes.

Shortcomings

The report said the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq was unable to provide "reasonable assurance" that money was not wasted and that the intended results had been achieved. BBC