LONDON – Decades of loosely regulated arms sales to Iraq, combined with lax controls on the ground, have provided Daesh (ISIS) with a “bonanza” of weapons from 25 countries, Amnesty International said in a new report.
It said in a report Tuesday that Daesh, or ISIS, is fighting mainly with weapons that were made in the United States, Russia and the former Soviet bloc states,
“The vast and varied weaponry being used by the armed group calling itself Islamic State is a textbook case of how reckless arms trading fuels atrocities on a massive scale,” said Patrick Wilcken, researcher on arms Control and other issues at the London-based watchdog.
“Decades of poorly regulated arms flows into Iraq as well as lax controls on the ground have provided the armed group calling itself Islamic State with a large and lethal arsenal that is being used to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity on a massive scale in Iraq and Syria,” added the report.
Daesh, which controls about a third of Syria and as much of Iraq, has been mainly fighting with weapons looted from the Iraqi military that were manufactured and designed in more than two dozen countries, including Russia, China the USA and EU states, the report said.
When Daesh stormed across Iraq in June 2014, the largely US trained and equipped Iraqi army fled without a fight. The army left huge stockpiles of weapons behind, including in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, which has been under Daesh control for more than a year.
“Poor regulation and lack of oversight of the immense arms flows into Iraq going back decades have given IS and other armed groups a bonanza of unprecedented access to firepower,” the Amnesty report said.
The “windfall” of weapons seized in Mosul include US-manufactured weapons and military vehicles, which the militants used to take control of other parts of the country, “with devastating consequences for the civilian population in those areas,” the report noted.
It documents that weapons used by Daesh come from at least 25 different countries, though a large proportion were originally sourced by the Iraqi military from the US, Russia and former Soviet bloc states.
These arms flows were funded variously by oil barter arrangements, Pentagon contracts and NATO donations. The bulk have been seized from or leaked out of Iraqi military stocks, the report said.
Among the advanced weaponry in Daesh hands are “man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS), guided anti-tank missiles and armored fighting vehicles, as well as assault rifles like the Russian AK series and the US M16 and Bushmaster,” according to the report.
“The legacy of arms proliferation and abuse in Iraq and the surrounding region has already destroyed the lives and livelihoods of millions of people and poses an ongoing threat. The consequences of reckless arms transfers to Iraq and Syria and their subsequent capture by IS must be a wake-up call to arms exporters around the world,” said Wilcken.
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