Iraq key ‘supplier’ of ISIS weapons — report

By: 8 years ago

In this Friday, Jan. 11, 2013 file photo, citizen journalism image provided by an anti-Bashar Assad activist group Edlib News Network (ENN), which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, rebels from al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the Nusra Front, sit on a truck full of ammunition at Taftanaz air base, that was captured by the rebels in Idlib province, northern Syria. AP

AP FILE PHOTO

BAGHDAD, Iraq—Much of the formidable arsenal that has helped turn the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group into the world’s most powerful extremist group comes from Iraq.

In a report published on Tuesday, Amnesty International reviews what weapons have been acquired by the jihadists but also explains how decades of irresponsible arms transfers to Iraq and mismanagement by the Iraqi authorities led to unchecked proliferation.

Here are some of the key figures from the report:

3: Number of conventional army divisions (40,000 to 50,000 solders) ISIS could have equipped with the arms it seized in June 2014 alone

12: Percentage of the world arms market that was directed to Iraq in the 1980s

15: Factor by which Iraq’s military expenditure increased over a decade to reach $9.5 billion last year

25: Minimum number of countries of origin for the weapons and ammunition used by ISIS in Iraq and Syria

28: Number of countries that supplied both Iraq and Iran during the 1980-1988 war

650,000: In tonnes, the amount of unsecured ammunition America’s military estimated was spread across Iraq in September 2003, months after the US-led invasion

1.6 billion: The amount in dollars appropriated last year by the US Congress for a program to support Iraq’s campaign against ISIS

(Sources: Amnesty International research, UN Security Council reports, Armament Research Services, Conflict Armament Research, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.)