Origins of where ISIS weapons came from revealed

Up to 90 per cent of weapons seized from ISIS in Iraq and Syria originated from China, Russia and Eastern Europe, a report has found.

US arms accounted for just 1.8 per cent of items recovered between 2014 and 2017 while 43.5 per cent of weapons originated in China, according to analysts.

The figures appear to disprove repeated claims by ISIS propaganda chiefs about the scale of the terror group’s seizure of Western-made weapons.

Experts examined 40,000 items recovered from fanatics across the two countries during their brutal three-year reign.

Among the most common weapon types documented in the analysis were assault rifles, medium machine guns, light machine guns and 40mm launchers.

Conflict Armament Research found that 43.5 per cent of weapons seized in this time originated in China.

In one haul, Iraqi forces found 122 Chinese Type 81 7.62 x 39 mm light machine guns and 61 Chinese Type 67-2 7.62 x 54R mm medium machine guns.

They also found individual rations of performance-enhancing amphetamines for issue to ISIS fighters in the cache, which was uncovered in the Al Shura district, south of Mosul, as the city was being recaptured late last year.

Analysis found that 12.9 per cent of recovered weapons originated in Romania while 9.6 per cent were from Russia and 7.2 per cent from Hungary.

Just over 5 per cent originated in Bulgaria while 4 per cent were from Serbia and 3.6 per cent were from Germany.

Only 3.2 per cent originated in Iraq while 0.9 per cent of the weapons were from Iran, the analysis found.

ISIS propaganda chiefs often bragged about its capture of US-made arms, and in 2014, Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi said it had lost 2,300 US-made Humvees when fanatics over-ran Mosul in the country’s north.

But despite this, just 1.8 per cent of items captured from the terror group originated in America, according to Conflict Armament Research.

The report summary said: ‘Considerable international attention has focused on the capture of US-manufactured weapons by IS forces from Iraqi military units, yet these weapons account for only 2 per cent of the group’s holdings in its Iraq and Syria operations.

‘Most of the group’s weapons are Warsaw Pact calibres, which are in widespread service among Iraqi and Syrian forces and also deployed by most opposition forces fighting in the Syrian conflict.

‘The ultimate origins of these weapons mirror broad trends in the global market for Warsaw Pact-calibre materiel. China predominates as a producer.

‘Weapons manufactured by EU Member States in Eastern Europe form the bulk of the remaining materiel deployed by IS forces on either side of the Iraq–Syria border.

‘Russian-manufactured weapons are the second-most common types among IS forces in Syria, but not in Iraq (possibly due to Russian support for the Syrian regime and subsequent acquisition by IS forces).’

Source : Daily Mail UK