WASHINGTON — The Pentagon may have mishandled or even lost track of thousands of surplus machine guns, armored vehicles and other pieces of demilitarized equipment sold or provided to foreign governments, according to an internal audit.

Some of the equipment was given to unauthorized nations, which jeopardized U.S. security, the report by the Defense Department's inspector general said.

Lax control over surplus items "increased the risk of providing foreign governments unauthorized property that could be used to threaten our national security," the Feb. 13 report concluded. A copy of it was obtained Thursday.

Defense Logistics Agency spokesman Douglas Ide did not immediately know whether the items at issue were sold or given to the foreign governments.

"We take the nature of the IG's findings seriously," Ide said in a statement. "We're reviewing the report in light of the IG's recent comments and will respond to the IG's concerns."

The report is based on a sampling of 175 pieces of equipment out of 7,373 pieces that were either sold or otherwise transferred to 19 foreign governments between October 2001 and March 2006.

The report does not identify the governments.

President Bush signed legislation last year that prohibited the Pentagon from selling leftover F-14 fighter jet parts.

The inspector general's report concluded:

• As many as 7,259 of 7,373 items, including M-16 rifles, M-60 machine guns and armored personnel carriers, were improperly tracked, safeguarded, accounted for or reconciled.

• As many as 291 of 7,373 line items, including M-16 parts, were shipped to foreign governments that were not authorized to have those items.

• As many as 960 of 7,373 items were wrongly identified by how they should be demilitarized to prevent misuse.