Baltimore buys back nearly 2,000 weapons from the streets

Baltimore police have collected nearly 2,000 weapons including a rocket launcher as part of a buy-back program aimed at reducing violence in the eastern US city.

The three-day operation last week was announced in a bid to rid the streets of illegal weapons in a city where the number of homicides has surpassed 300 for the fourth year in a row.

Officers collected 1,860 weapons, a police spokesman told AFP. The city's mayor tweeted that a rocket launcher was among the haul.

Authorities offered $25 for large magazines, $100 for handguns and rifles, $200 for semi-automatic rifles and $500 for automatic rifles, promised anonymity to those who took part in the amnesty.

Home to 600,000 people, Baltimore allocated $250,000 for the operation, according to the city council -- as the Baltimore Sun's editorial board said the program was "likely to be a large waste of time, money and resources."