A new survey shows that ISIS fighters are using ammunition the United States government originally sent to Iraqi security forces.
According to The New York Times, Conflict Armament Research conducted a survey for the European Union to “identify [ISIS’s] weapons and weapons sources.” The survey was conducted by examining ammunition and weaponry found at recently abandoned ISIS fighting positions.
Conflict Armament Research discovered that “80 percent” of the ammunition currently used by ISIS came from the US, China, Russia, the Soviet Union, or Serbia. “Nearly 19 percent” of this was from the US and “26 percent” was China.
The ammunition from the US was 5.56 mm ammo–“the standard [round] for the American M-4 and M-16 rifles.” This ammunition was “widely distributed by the United States to Iraqi security forces.” Another “8.5 percent” of the ammunition was of Russian origins but was sent to Iraqi security forces by the US government under the US brand of “WOLF” ammunition.
The origins of the Chinese ammunition are not traceable like that of the US or Russia, because “China’s ammunition exports…are [often] not transparent in any way.” Conflict Armament Research says the ammo could have been originally provided to Syrian or Iraqi forces–“or to any number of other countries”–and then eventually fallen into ISIS’ hands.
This capture of and re-dispersion of US supplied arms and has been recently seen in Libya as well. On August 12, 2013, Breitbart News reported Benghazi whistleblower Mark Thompson’s testimony that 400 US missiles “diverted to Libya” ended up being stolen and falling into “the hands of some very ugly people.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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