Most Weapons Used by ISIS Were Seized From Iraqi Army

Endemic corruption and weak control of stockpiling and tracking weapons created the risk they would be diverted.

The report says the “vast array of weapons” were made in at least 25 different countries including the U.S., Russian Federation and former Soviet states.

The report also found that these arms flows were funded variously by oil barter arrangements, Pentagon contracts and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation donations.

The report cites the Iraqi military’s inability to maintain possession of its weapons as the main reason for why weapons have ended up in ISIS’ hands.

“The global community must learn from past mistakes and take urgent measures to reduce the proliferation of weapons in Iraq, in Syria, and countries or regions of instability”.

Amnesty says IS fighters and other armed groups have also resorted to forging their own improvised weaponry in crude workshops.

“When I said no boots on the ground, I think the American people understood generally that we’re not going to do an Iraq-style invasion of Iraq or Syria with battalions that are moving across the desert”, said Obama.

Congress also passed a bill in December 2014 giving the green light to $64 billion in funding for overseas war ventures in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Most of the conventional weapons being used by ISIS fighters date from the 1970s to the 1990s, when Iraq was engaged in a massive military buildup ahead of and during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

However, the Daily Beast reported that Carter’s announcement took military planners by surprise, since they had yet to finalize important details, including the rules of engagement under which such raids would be carried out.

“Hundreds of thousands of those weapons went missing and are still unaccounted for”.

Amnesty International has published a scathing analysis of the weapons in the hands of Daesh’s movement (ISIS). The militant group’s stockpile includes anti-tank weapons (guided and unguided), mortars and armoured fighting vehicles.

A new intelligence report commissioned by the White House says that the ISIS terror group will grow in numbers and territory unless it suffers significant losses in Iraq and Syria.

As a result of its findings, Amnesty is calling on all states to adopt a complete embargo on Syrian government forces, as well as armed opposition groups.

The Amnesty International report questions on the credibility and dependability of the USA and other states in controlling and auditing its weapons base in the Middle East and elsewhere and asks for a fresh perspective on security under the current world scene.

“The big takeaway for us is that you have to look historically at this and the long process whereby states often recklessly and irresponsibly send arms to Iraq… often in a very uncoordinated and chaotic manner”, Wilcken said.