Iraq, Afghanistan, World, Bosnia, Serbia
Iraq, Afghan Wars, Exports from Bosnia, Serbia Hurt Bid to Destroy Guns
Zee News (India)
15 July 2008
UNITED NATIONS -- The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are undermining efforts to destroy surplus weapons by creating new markets for countries to sell their unwanted firearms, according to a survey published here. Although the world is witnessing "the largest systematic destruction of military small arms and light weapons since the end of World War II," countries that would normally have destroyed their surplus weapons are now being... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Nations, World, Iraq, Colombia, Afghanistan
Civilians Alone 'Lose' 650,000 Guns Each Year, Says Study Released at UN
Reuters
14 July 2008
UNITED NATIONS -- Every year hundreds of thousands of small arms go missing and many wind up in the hands of insurgents in countries like Iraq, Colombia and Afghanistan, a new survey published on Monday said. The annual report issued by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey said that as many as 650,000 civilian-owned weapons go missing. This figure excludes the considerable amount of weapons that are diverted -- usually meaning stolen... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan, Albania
Pentagon's Afghan Army Ammo Sale Fraud Takes Political Twist in Congress
Los Angeles Times
14 July 2008
WASHINGTON -- A top-priority federal investigation of military procurement fraud in Afghanistan has been forced to shift direction because of a congressional panel's allegation that a senior U.S. diplomat sought to cover up the scheme. The accusation against the ambassador appears to be unraveling, however, and prosecutors are scrambling to assess the effects on a case involving what is considered to be one of the most serious procurement... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan, Tajikistan
Central Asia's Guns-for-drugs Trade Helps Arm Insurgents Worldwide
Rome News-Tribune (Georgia) / McClatchy-Tribune News Service
7 July 2008
BADAKHSHAN, Afghanistan -- The bazaar sits on a small island in the middle of the Panj River, the shallow waterway that serves as the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. On either side loom the Pamir Mountains, a range of high peaks that cuts the region off from the rest of the world. When the bazaar first opened five years ago, people on both sides of the border cheered the opportunity for commerce to flourish between the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
US Army's $300m Ammo Deal 'Case Study' in Botched Military Contracting
New York Times
25 June 2008
WASHINGTON -- When the Army last year awarded a contract worth up to nearly $300 million to a tiny Miami Beach munitions dealer to supply ammunition to Afghanistan's security forces, it overlooked a very checkered past. A Congressional committee revealed Tuesday that by the time the Army awarded the bid, State and Defense Department officials had canceled or delayed at least six earlier contracts with the company, AEY Inc., for... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Albania, Afghanistan
US Ambassador to Albania Targeted in Illegal Afghan Ammunition Probe
Reuters
24 June 2008
WASHINGTON -- The State Department said on Tuesday it would review the conduct of the U.S. ambassador to Albania, after a congressman alleged the envoy knew about a case in which Chinese-made ammunition was falsely relabeled as manufactured in Albania and shipped to the Afghan army. In a hearing on Tuesday and a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice the previous day, Henry Waxman, chairman of the House of Representatives... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
Miami Gun Dealer Charged with Selling Chinese Ammo to Pentagon
New York Times
21 June 2008
WASHINGTON -- The 22-year-old president of a Miami Beach arms-dealing company and three other people were charged Friday with selling prohibited Chinese ammunition to the Pentagon to supply Afghan security forces, federal officials said. A federal grand jury in Miami indicted the munitions dealer, Efraim E. Diveroli, president of AEY Inc., as well as two former employees and a business associate, on charges of fraud and conspiring... ( gunpolicy.org )
Pakistan, Afghanistan
Pakistani Gun Control Groups Target US, Afghanistan for Weapon Flood
International News (Karachi)
10 June 2008
PESHAWAR -- Highlighting case of Pakistan Raza Shah Khan, executive director of Sustainable Peace and Development Organisation (Spado) claimed that the problem of arms proliferation in the region was the result of Afghanistan war wherein the US provided about $2 billion in arms aid. "We had the greatest number of guns per capita in the world," he told a seminar, jointly organised by Spado, Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan, Iraq, Albania
Inferior Ammunition to Afghanistan Leads US Army to Review Arms Policy
New York Times
27 April 2008
MOSCOW -- The United States Army has begun a broad review of procedures used to supply security forces in Afghanistan and Iraq with foreign arms, prompted by an allegation of fraud and questions about the competence of the main private supplier of ammunition to Afghanistan. The company, AEY Inc. of Miami Beach, was suspended last month after Army investigators accused it of shipping aged Chinese rifle cartridges and claiming they... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, Iraq, Afghanistan, Europe
Guns 'Commonly' Smuggled in UK Army Vehicles Crossing Europe from Iraq
BBC News
25 April 2008
Two former soldiers who were jailed for their involvement in a gun smuggling ring have said the practice is common in the British army. Shane Pleasant and Ben Whitfield were in the Third Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, when they helped to smuggle weapons from Iraq into Europe. They said if soldiers had the right contacts it was easy to smuggle weapons out of countries. The MoD said there was no evidence such... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Coalition 'Error' Delivered Machine Guns, Assault Weapons to Taliban Leader
Associated Press
13 April 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A coalition helicopter trying to supply Afghan police with munitions dropped them in the wrong location and Taliban fighters later recovered the weaponry, an intelligence official said Sunday. A member of parliament, however, said he did not believe the arms drop was an accident. Amrullah Saleh, the head of Afghanistan's intelligence service, told a parliament security committee "coalition forces"... ( gunpolicy.org )
Slovakia, United States, Afghanistan, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary
Slovakia Sold Ammunition to Miami Gun Dealer, Pentagon for Afghan War
SME (Bratislava) / BBC Monitoring Service, Transcript
8 April 2008
Slovakia has traded in arms with the AEY company, which is being investigated over fraud in the United States. The daily New York Times found out that the company had been selling old Chinese ammunition from Albania to the Afghanis for decades, claiming that it was from Hungary. It purchased other weapons and munitions for the Afghanis in Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. It is not clear what exactly happened... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
$298m Pentagon Deal: 'Fraudulent' Licensed Gun Dealer's Exports Blocked
New York Times
4 April 2008
The State Department on Thursday suspended the international export activities of AEY Inc., a Miami Beach arms-dealing company led by a 22-year-old man whose munitions procurements for the Pentagon are under criminal investigation, according to American officials familiar with the decision. The Army last week accused the firm's president, Efraim E. Diveroli, of fraud, claiming he shipped Chinese cartridges to Afghanistan after certifying... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan, Albania
US Congress Afghan Guns Inquiry Pins Albanian PM in Corruption Probe
Balkan Insight
4 April 2008
TIRANA -- The United States Congress has announced a probe into the arms deals between U.S.-based AEY and Albanian officials. The investigation was announced by U.S. Democratic Congressman, Henry Waxman (California) and will be conducted by the House Government Oversight Committee. The weapons involved were intended to supply the Afghan Army. AEY President, 22 year-old Efraim Diveroli, the company's 25 year-old... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
Licensed US Gun Dealer Given 'Disadvantaged' Status in $300m Arms Deal
Government Executive (USA)
3 April 2008
A Miami-based defense contractor under investigation for delivering faulty munitions to Afghan security forces saw his business boom after being incorrectly labeled as a small disadvantaged business. Before the designation first appeared in the Federal Procurement Data System in mid-2006, AEY Inc., owned by 22-year-old Efraim Diveroli, had done $8.14 million in business with the federal government. Since the SDB label was applied,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
Pentagon Promised $300m for 'Barely Legal' Gun Dealer's Corroded Ammo
Taxpayer.net (USA) Vol. XIII No. 14, Web Page
3 April 2008
It sounds like the plot of a Tom Clancy thriller: A tiny company run out of an unmarked Miami Beach office by a barely legal troublemaker siphons hundreds of millions of dollars from the Pentagon by selling it rusting weapons from aged Communist stockpiles. A company called AEY Inc., run by 22-year-old Efriam E. Diveroli, managed to do exactly that for four years -- yet another example of unchecked corruption and incompetence in... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
Pentagon, Miami Beach Party Boy/Gun Dealer in $300m Afghan Ammo Deal
Miami Herald (Florida) / Knight-Ridder
30 March 2008
Certain words tend to pop up in stories about arms dealers. Invariably, they're "shadowy." As if international arms merchants come out of the box with the factory default set to "shadowy." Other words are just as inevitable. Figure on "AK-47" and "shoulder-fired missile" and "Miami." Though, in international arms trade parlance, the armament bazaar called Miami includes Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Hialeah, Sunshine Ranches and, of... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
US Grants 22yr-old Miami Gun Dealer His $300 Million 'Hallucinatory Dream'
Miami Herald (Florida) / Knight-Ridder
30 March 2008
To the young man, caught in the tawdry glamour of South Beach, it must have seemed a hallucinatory dream: millions in military contracts simply for the asking. So Efraim Diveroli asked, bidding for the right to supply munitions to the Afghan Army. Nevermind that Diveroli, president of AEY Inc., was barely out of his teens. Or that AEY 's specialty was not arms-dealing but scrap-brokering. What mattered is that AEY offered the winning... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
22yr-old Miami Gun Dealer Had $200m US Army Deal for Afghan War Ammo
Associated Press
28 March 2008
MIAMI -- Efraim Diveroli was barely old enough to buy alcohol. His MySpace page talked about mundane issues of youth like how he was "basically just working and chilling with my boyz when im not." Despite his age, the 22 year old from Miami Beach was also building a military weapons business with more than $200 million in U.S. government contracts. The Army now says he illegally provided Chinese-made ammunition to the Afghanistan... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan, Iraq, China
US Army Accuses Miami Gun Dealer of Fraud in $200m Afghan Ammo Deal
New York Times
28 March 2008
When the United States Army decided this week to suspend the main supplier of munitions to Afghan security forces from future federal work, it did so after a field investigation documented what it called an act of fraud. Last Nov. 25, the president of the company, Efraim E. Diveroli, signed papers certifying that 28 pallets of ammunition for Afghanistan had been manufactured by MFS 2000, a Hungarian company, according to the investigators'... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
US Congress Probes Miami Gun Dealer Over Suspect $200m Ammo Deal
CNN
28 March 2008
Efraim Diveroli's father hoped his son would become a doctor or lawyer. What he got instead is a 22-year-old international arms dealer who faces a congressional inquiry for allegedly selling old Chinese ammunition to the U.S. military to equip allies in Afghanistan. Diveroli is president of AEY Inc., a South Florida company which, according to U.S. government documents, has done more than $10 million of business with the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan, China
US Suspends Miami 22yr-old in $200m China-Afghan Guns, Ammo Ripoff
CNN
28 March 2008
WASHINGTON -- U.S. investigators are looking into accusations that a company hired by the U.S. military supplied corroded and decades-old Chinese ammunition to the Afghan Army and police. The U.S. government has suspended AEY Inc. of Miami, Florida for violating its contract, according to U.S. Army documents obtained by CNN. And the House Oversight Committee plans to hold a hearing into the matter on April 17. "The... ( gunpolicy.org )
Albania, Afghanistan, United States
US/Afghan Ammunition, Gun Trafficking Scandal Implicates Albanian PM
Balkan Insight (Sarajevo)
27 March 2008
TIRANA -- Albanian leaders are accused of profiting from a murky arms deal with a company whose contract with the U.S. Army was suspended this week. The allegations implicate politicians as high as Prime Minister Sali Berisha and former Defence Minster Fatmir Mediu, with corruption. The allegations were the subject of a heated debate in Parliament on Thursday. "You are thwarting our integration into NATO and should resign,"... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan, China, Albania, Iraq
US Offers 22yr-old Miami Man $300m for Old, Often Dud Afghan War Ammo
New York Times
27 March 2008
Since 2006, when the insurgency in Afghanistan sharply intensified, the Afghan government has been dependent on American logistics and military support in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. But to arm the Afghan forces that it hopes will lead this fight, the American military has relied since early last year on a fledgling company led by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur. With the award... ( gunpolicy.org )
Germany, United States, Iraq, Afghanistan
German Gun Maker H&K Dumps 'Unique Partnership' with Blackwater USA
Deutsche Welle (Germany)
19 February 2008
Weapons manufacturer Heckler & Koch said it would end its relationship with Blackwater after German media reported that the controversial US-run military firm was using its guns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Blackwater, a private security company which has been contracted to protect high-profile US officials and foreign dignitaries in Iraq, had been using Heckler & Koch machine guns in both Iraq and Afghanistan, German broadcaster ARD's... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Afghan Police Crackdown Strips Private Security Firms of Unlicensed Guns
Times (UK)
10 February 2008
KABUL -- Afghan police have begun a crackdown on private security guards carrying guns in Kabul, paralysing foreign aid and other organisations whose rules oblige them to travel with armed escorts. The Interior Ministry has also detained four foreign employees of two security companies for several days, including two British citizens who were released on Saturday but still have charges pending against them, The Times has learnt. A... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
American Soldiers Strip, Rebuild AK-47s for Afghan Military, Police
State (South Carolina)
6 January 2008
CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan -- Sgt. Dennis Busby never held an AK-47 -- let alone fired one -- until he came to Afghanistan. Now, the S.C. National Guard soldier is helping to restore weapons, including the ubiquitous Soviet-era assault rifle Afghan forces use. Busby, of Lexington, is a member of the Guard's 218th Brigade Combat Team, deployed here to mentor the Afghan army and police. He works at a nearby supply... ( gunpolicy.org )
Pakistan, Afghanistan
Taliban Resurgence Pushes Up Gun Prices in Pakistan's Darra Adam Khel
Daily Times (Lahore)
2 November 2007
PESHAWAR -- The sales and prices of arms in Frontier Region (FR) of Darra Adam Khel, famous for its illegal arms market, have shot up as the Taliban insurgency is gaining momentum in the tribal areas and parts of NWFP, Daily Times learnt on Thursday. Shopkeepers in Darra bazaar told Daily Times that the prices of weapons had soared because the "mujahideen" who used to sell weapons in the past now needed them. A shopkeeper... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Amid Fears of a Taliban Resurgence, Militias, Afghani Civilians Hoard Guns
New York Times
28 October 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Many former militia commanders and residents in northern Afghanistan have been hoarding illegal weapons in violation of the country's disarmament laws, giving the excuse that they face a spreading Taliban insurgency from the south that government forces alone are too frail to stop, Afghan and Western officials say. After years of moderate success for government disarmament programs, rumors of widespread defiance... ( gunpolicy.org )
Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan, World
Serbian Gun Runner Shipped Tons of Guns, Ammunition to Various Conflicts
New York Times
7 October 2007
NIS, Serbia -- For the past four years Tomislav Damnjanovic has played a crucial role in the United States' wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2003, he has delivered millions of rounds of ammunition, guns, grenades and mortars to the governments of Iraq and Afghanistan, United Nations officials say, facts he does not dispute. His aircraft have even been used to shuttle supplies between American bases in Iraq, saving troops from having to... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan, World
Gun Control in Afghanistan: UN/US-led Effort to Retrieve 10 Million Weapons
Ottawa Citizen (Ontario), Opinion
6 September 2007
Once heralded as a success story in the global war on terror, Afghanistan is reaching a tipping point. In spite of desperate efforts by western governments to contain spiraling violence outside of Kabul, more than 4,400 Afghans were killed in 2006, many of them by gunfire. Although NATO troops are struggling to put down the Taliban-led insurgency, efforts to regulate and collect the tools of war must be redoubled. Recent news that... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait
US Auditors Sent to Iraq and Afghanistan to Trace Missing Guns, Corruption
USA Today / AP
28 August 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is sending a team of investigators to Iraq because of the growing number of cases of fraud and other irregularities in contracts involving weapons and supplies for Iraqi forces. "The (Defense) Department is concerned with the number of contracting improprieties" that have been uncovered, department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday. Some members of a team led by Pentagon Inspector General Claude... ( gunpolicy.org )
Montenegro, Afghanistan, Croatia, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Montenegro, Other Balkan Nations Donate Guns, Ammunition to Afghanistan
SEESAC (Belgrade) / South East European Times, Transcript
23 August 2007
Montenegro's government is defending its decision to send surplus weapons and ammunition to Afghanistan as a contribution to the global fight against terrorism. On August 14th, the cabinet agreed to donate around 1,500 automatic rifles, 100 machine guns and 250,000 bullets to Afghan troops battling the Taliban. The explanation was that Montenegro wants to help stabilise Afghanistan and contribute to global security. Opposition... ( gunpolicy.org )
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Afghanistan
NATO/Bosnian Guns Donated to Afghanistan Possibly Leaked to Taliban
BBC Monitoring Service / Dnevni Avaz (Sarajevo), Transcript
14 August 2007
[Interview with independent researcher Hugh Griffiths; place and date not given: 'Bosnian Weapons in the Hands of the Taleban.'] Weapons that have recently been donated by Bosnia-Hercegovina to Afghanistan may have easily ended up in the Taliban's hands, independent researcher Hugh Griffiths has warned. Griffiths has worked for a number of international governmental and non-governmental organizations. He is the author of... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
Stolen Military Weapons, Afghanistan/US Gun Running in Green Beret Trial
Miami Herald (Florida)
25 March 2007
The Taliban of Afghanistan. Pirates off Somalia. Neo-Nazis in West Virginia. They all figure into the story of David Kellerman, a Green Beret from Fort Lauderdale accused of trying to smuggle high-powered weapons, ammunition and explosives out of Afghanistan and stockpiling more of them in Broward County. With a trial scheduled for May, the case may turn on whether jurors believe that Kellerman, 44, a decorated soldier... ( gunpolicy.org )
Czech Republic, Afghanistan
Czech Government Approves Donation of 20,000 Guns to Afghanistan
CTK news (Prague) / BBC Monitoring
21 February 2007
PRAGUE -- The Czech government today approved the plan to donate 20,000 automatic rifles and 650 machine guns worth 30 million crowns to Afghanistan. The Defence Ministry said the arms were redundant and that they would contribute to the international efforts to achieve security and improve democracy in the region. In early March, the Czech government is to decide on the donation of 12 transport and combat helicopters to... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
US Soldiers Smuggle AK-47s from Afghanistan, Says GI Robbery Suspect
National Public Radio / All Things Considered (USA)
18 December 2006
An Army Ranger who is accused of robbing a bank with machine guns says his weapons came from Afghanistan -- and that they were brought back to the United States by American troops. Luke Sommer, 20, has been charged with robbing a Bank of America branch in Tacoma, Wash., on Aug. 7. Surveillance cameras captured the robbery, which showed men armed with fully automatic AK-47s, balaclavas on their faces, carrying out a heist that investigators... ( gunpolicy.org )
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Afghanistan, Iraq, United States, World
Bosnia's Leftover Guns: Sell, Give to Iraq or Afghanistan, Destroy?
Christian Science Monitor
10 July 2006
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- What's been called the biggest arms transfer since World War II -- the shipping of leftover weapons from Bosnia's 1992-1995 war to combat zones in the Middle East and elsewhere -- may not have come to an end, despite a year-old moratorium on Bosnian arms sales. As a UN conference on small arms wrapped up last week, key policymakers reviewed the UN's 2001 action program to end the illegal arms trade,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Where the Gun Still Rules
IRIN (UN News) / Reuters
7 June 2006
KABUL -- Abdullah Shah, 25, busily sews clothes in his small tailor's shop in Obdarra, a village in Anaba district in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley, some 120 km north of the capital, Kabul. He has been the sole breadwinner in his family since his brother, Shafiqullah, was gunned down by a powerful warlord in late 2003. A slaying typical of an environment where local strong men still hold sway over local communities and often deliver ruthless... ( gunpolicy.org )
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Afghanistan
Bosnian Serbs Want to Donate Surplus Guns to Afghanistan
SEESAC (Belgrade) / BBC Monitoring Service / Nezavisne Novine
15 December 2005
Nezavisne Novine has learned that old guns in the Serb Republic Army's arsenal could get into the hands of the Afghanistan security forces. Today the government is expected to make a decision on a Defence Ministry initiative to donate surplus weapons to Afghanistan. If the proposal is accepted, the Afghans, in the words of Defence Minister Milovan Stankovic, may get several thousand automatic guns and several hundred machine-guns.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Afghanistan Teaches Foreign 'Gunrunners' a Hard Lesson
Washington Post / AP
7 December 2005
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Dozens of armed police burst into a Kabul guest house in October, arresting the stunned occupants. For an American, two Britons and an Indian, the raid began a trip through the Afghan justice system marked by violence, uncertainty and the possibility of years in prison. After gun-smuggling charges, jail and a brief trial, the ordeal led Wednesday to acquittal for the American, suspended sentences for the others,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Afghans Jail Britons, Indian for Possessing Guns
New York Times / Reuters
7 December 2005
KABUL -- An Afghan court sentenced two Britons and an Indian to two years in jail on Wednesday after convicting them of illegally possessing firearms, but acquitted an American who stood trial with them. The four men were arrested in October in a police raid on a Kabul guest house. Judge Ansarullah Mawlavizada said Britons Peter Eaton and Michael Shaw and Indian Naveen Joshi had been found guilty of illegally possessing... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
UK, US, Indian Expats Among Six Arrested in Kabul for Gun Trafficking
BBC News
11 November 2005
The brother of an engineer held in Afghanistan on suspicion of gun running has said he is worried for his safety and does not believe he is guilty. Peter Eaton, 52, from Milford Haven, was one of six men, two of them UK nationals, detained in the capital Kabul last month. The men have not yet been charged and no date has been set for any trial. Mr Eaton's brother, Tim, said: "I don't think my brother would have... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq, Afghanistan
US Forced to Import Bullets from Israel as Troops Use 250,000 for Every Rebel Killed
Independent (UK)
26 September 2005
WASHINGTON -- US forces have fired so many bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan -- an estimated 250,000 for every insurgent killed -- that American ammunition-makers cannot keep up with demand. As a result the US is having to import supplies from Israel. A government report says that US forces are now using 1.8 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition a year. The total has more than doubled in five years, largely as a result of the wars... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Over 50,000 Former Afghan Soldiers Have Disarmed, UN Reports
UN News Service
8 May 2005
More than 50,000 former Afghan military troops have disarmed, and 90 per cent of them have entered a programme aimed at helping them to re-join society, the United Nations reported today. "The most popular area of reintegration is agriculture with 43.6 per cent of participants choosing that option," Ariane Quentier, spokesperson for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), told a press briefing in the capital Kabul. "Vocational... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Final Phase in Afghan Disarmament
BBC News
24 March 2005
A campaign to disarm tens of thousands of militiamen in Afghanistan has entered the final phase. The disarmament programme started by the United Nations 18 months ago has already resulted in 45,000 men giving up their guns. In the final four months, weapons will be collected from the remaining militia units, particularly around Kabul. Militiamen who hand in their guns are given training to help them settle into... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Too Many Weapons in Private Hands
IRIN (UN News)
7 March 2005
KABUL -- In an episode that suggests Afghanistan is slowly becoming safer, Shir Alam a 50-year-old local commander, surrendered several hundred mt of arms to a United Nations ammunitions stockpile and collection group on Thursday outside the capital, Kabul. Alam had amassed the arms over three decades of conflict, first fighting Soviet forces during 1980s and later against rival militia groups during the 1990s civil war in the capital.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Afghan Army Soldier Opens Fire in U.S. Base, Killing Five
Associated Press
27 January 2005
KABUL, Afghanistan -- An Afghan soldier opened fire inside a U.S. military base Thursday, killing five of his Afghan comrades before another soldier gunned him down to end a shooting that a commander attributed to mental problems. Elsewhere, Afghan police killed a suspected Taliban commander and captured his deputy in a shootout. The U.S. military said the soldier attacked fellow Afghan National Army troops early Thursday... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Gun Culture Costs Lives, Including Unintentional Shootings
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
25 November 2004
MAZAR-E-SHARIF -- Accidental deaths from firearms are common, but Afghans are reluctant to give up their prized guns. "I didn't mean to kill him, but the gun went off by mistake." That was Gul Halim's explanation for the death of his friend last week. Halim said he wanted to tease Sharif, so as a joke, he pointed his Kalashnikov at him. The gun went off, and Sharif, 27, was killed instantly. Halim, 35, is now in... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Weapon Collection Scheme Puzzles Warlords
Sydney Morning Herald
27 October 2004
In the mud-walled village of Gan Qadan, on Afghanistan's sprawling Shomali Plains, the warlord Ghulam Eishaan cannot quite believe that foreign powers are offering millions of dollars for him and his men to drop their guns. He scratches his head at the news that a new redundancy program is being offered to make people like him swear off fighting -- a lump sum or a stipend of up to $US500 ($670) a month. The program is pitched at... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Afghans Hold on to Their Insurance Policy
Guardian (UK)
18 October 2004
Despite elections, disarming war-weary foot soldiers will not be easy Most people in Kareza, a dusty village two hours north of Kabul, keep animals tethered outside their mud-walled houses. Commander Mafouz keeps two Soviet tanks. The 21-year-old fighter has grown fond of the two green hulks, which still have live shells in their barrels; so fond that he recently threatened to kill the UN team that tried to tow them away.... ( gunpolicy.org )
World, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Africa, Middle East
Stop the Guns Targeting Aid Workers
Globe & Mail (Toronto), Opinion
11 August 2004
The terrifying decline of humanitarian and security conditions in Iraq and Sudan is grabbing headlines. But for the humanitarian aid community, news from Afghanistan is worse. In July, five employees of Médecins sans frontières were ambushed and killed in the northwestern province of Badghis. These killings echoed the shooting deaths of five other Afghan aid workers near Kabul earlier this year on the eve of a visit by the U.S.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Disarming of Afghani Militias Behind Schedule
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
9 July 2004
The internationally financed programme designed to disarm thousands of armed men who fought for local commanders against the Taleban and during the years of civil war in the country has fallen badly behind schedule. The delay raises the spectre that local commanders may still lead powerful private armies by the time of the presidential election this autumn, leaving them with the capacity to intimidate local voters and even threaten... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Where Guns Rule, Disarmament Falls Short
Los Angeles Times
6 June 2004
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Taj Mohammed picked up a gun when he was 18 and fought the Soviets, and then the Taliban, in the Panjshir Valley, the heart of the Afghan resistance against occupiers. After two decades of serving his homeland, the longtime commander is among 100,000 fighters who have been told to hand over their weapons and return to civilian life, as part of a $370-million United Nations plan to disarm Afghanistan. But the... ( gunpolicy.org )
Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan
New Report Shoots Down Assumptions About Arms Proliferation
Radio Free Europe (Czech Republic)
27 February 2004
PRAGUE -- A new report counters preconceptions that Central Asia is a "hotbed of gun proliferation and misuse." The study uses Kyrgyzstan as a case study and finds that, despite suffering from socio-economic problems and ethnic tensions, there is little evidence that this has led to increasing violence and gun proliferation. "Some states are better than others at controlling small arms. But they are nonetheless vulnerable in key... ( gunpolicy.org )
Canada, Afghanistan
Soldier's Shooting is 13th Afghan Gun Mishap
Canadian Press
16 February 2004
KABUL -- Canadian troops in Afghanistan fired their weapons by accident or through negligence a dozen times before a soldier apparently shot himself Sunday, The Canadian Press has learned. The soldier remained in critical condition in the army hospital at Camp Julien late Sunday. He was alone with his gun in his sleeping quarters when he was shot in the face. A military investigation is underway. "Obviously if he was alone,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Afghans Trade Guns for Shot at a New Life
Washington Post
23 October 2003
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan -- "Name?" "Shah Mahmad." "Age?" "Thirty-four." "Can you read?" "No." "Any skills?" "Just this gun." With such terse exchanges, repeated several hundred times during the past two days at army bases across the northern province of Kunduz, Afghan and U.N. officials launched a long-awaited national program to disarm tens of thousands of factional fighters,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, Afghanistan
Army Slammed At Inquest Over Lethal Mix of Guns and Alcohol
Western Mail (Wales)
18 September 2003
A coroner last night attacked the army for allowing a lethal mix of alcohol and firearms at a party which ended with the death of a Welsh soldier and the suicide of his killer. Sergeant Robert Busuttil, 30, of Tycoch, Swansea, died when Corporal John Gregory, 30, from Catterick, North Yorkshire, fired up to 10 rounds into his body before turning his assault rifle on himself during a farewell barbecue at a camp at Kabul airport in... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Afghanistan's Gun Culture Challenge
BBC News
22 February 2003
Of all the challenges facing the new Afghanistan, taking away the guns is the greatest. As long as armed militias continue to exist, they threaten the authority of the central government of Hamid Karzai, and all attempts to create a new national army. The United States and Japanese governments have already pledged $95m to cover the costs of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of Afghanistan's many fighters. Most... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan, United States
Captured Arms Will Stop Going to Afghan Militia
Los Angeles Times
26 October 2002
BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- The U.S. military has stopped handing over confiscated weapons to Afghan militia fighters after criticism that it was strengthening regional warlords at the expense of the national government. The change was made quietly after reports Oct. 16 that weapons caches were going to militia fighters traveling with American forces, U.S. military spokesman Col. Roger King said Friday. Critics worried that arming private... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Bulgaria Donates Arms, Equipment to Aid Afghan Army
Associated Press
21 August 2002
BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- Bulgaria has donated a large number of weapons and ammunition to the Afghan National Army, an example of the international community's commitment to help the country, a U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday. The donation, to be used for training and equipping the new army, included 400 AK-47 rifles, 8 82-mm mortars, 12 SPG-9 anti-tank missile launchers, 15 RPG-7 launchers, 8 PKM machine guns and 30 radio... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Guns Offer Fast Profit for Afghans
Christian Science Monitor
6 August 2002
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Abdul Zahir says he's weary of war, but artifacts from Afghanistan's violent past still clutter his rickety shop. A carpet woven with a zigzagging pattern of assault rifles hangs from the rafters. Bottles of shampoo and cartons of cigarettes are arrayed on shelves punctuated by Soviet bayonets. Hidden beneath a cushion in a sitting area is a Czech SKS rifle. A battered Kalashnikov leans in a corner. Mr.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Despite Disarmament Order, Guns Ubiquitous on Kabul's Streets as Loya Jirga Nears
Associated Press
6 June 2002
KABUL, Afghanistan -- On a side street, camouflage-clad partisans of the northern alliance play pickup volleyball, their AK-47s bouncing against their backs. On a corner in ramshackle western Kabul, a bony boy no older than 10 paces back and forth, his battered Kalashnikov dragging on the ground. Kabulis, no strangers to war, take such displays in stride. But though far fewer weapons are on the streets than five months ago, guns... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Crime Returning in Afghan City Where Taliban Harshness Kept Peace
Associated Press
5 April 2002
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- For God's sake, leave me! shouted Mehmood, an auto parts salesman, when two men with AK-47 assault rifles accosted him outside a mosque in a garbage-lined alley. Mehmood spoke his last words at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, according to witnesses. They say he then tried to snatch the gun of one assailant, whose partner stepped up and shot him in the back. The gunmen fled, and Mehmood died in the dirt, the... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Psst, Wanna Buy a Bayonet? Or a Burqa? On Dusty Afghan Base, American Soldiers Find a Marketplace
Associated Press
1 April 2002
For U.S. soldiers stationed at this dusty Afghan base, the absence of those daily consumer pleasures TV, a cold beer, an excursion to the mall is glaring. On the other hand, how often is the kid bicycling down the street back home selling Russian bayonets and burqas? For the discerning GI souvenir hounds, the Vietnam War had its Ao-Dai, or traditional Vietnamese dresses, and World War II its Lugar pistols and Nazi memorabilia. ... ( gunpolicy.org )
Pakistan, Afghanistan
U.N. Urges Afghanistan to Disarm
Associated Press
13 March 2002
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Afghanistan's future is in jeopardy unless it undertakes a serious effort to round up the millions of weapons circulating throughout the country, the U.N.'s chief human rights official said. Mary Robinson, who spent several days in Afghanistan last week, said the most pressing human rights issue that faces the interim government of Prime Minister Hamid Karzai is human security. What really impressed... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Disarming Afghans Won't Be Easy
Associated Press
6 March 2002
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Police and soldiers have collected thousands of assault rifles, grenade launchers and other weapons in this southern province. But it may take rounding up millions to make a difference in the arsenal called Afghanistan. We and the army have collected 60,000 weapons since the Taliban fell, said Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akram Khakrizewal, provincial police chief. Across Afghanistan's 29 provinces, however,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
The Gun Doesn't Develop a Country; But Disarming the Afghans Won't Be Easy
Associated Press
6 March 2002
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Police and soldiers have collected thousands of assault rifles, grenade launchers and other weapons in this southern province. But it may take rounding up millions to make a difference in the arsenal called Afghanistan. We and the army have collected 60,000 weapons since the Taliban fell, said Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akram Khakrizewal, provincial police chief. Across Afghanistan's 29 provinces, however,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Kabul Police Seize Arms in New Security Crackdown
Reuters
29 January 2002
KABUL -- Afghan police Tuesday launched a wide security sweep of the capital, seizing illegal weapons and ordering drivers to remove tinted film from vehicle windows. Authorities set up road blocks throughout Kabul, searching vehicles for guns and other weapons and bringing traffic to a standstill in some parts. A statement broadcast by Afghan Radio said all firearm owners had to declare their weapons and get permission... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Afghans Unwilling to Give Up Weapons
Chicago Tribune
21 January 2002
BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- Career militiaman Abdul Shaker fingers the trigger of his trusted Kalashnikov and fires off a verbal warning to the 60 international donors meeting this week in Tokyo to discuss rebuilding his war-torn homeland. With terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden apparently still on the loose, the enemy Taliban still lording over part of the country, and lawlessness rampant in cities and villages, neither Shaker nor... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Afghan Warlords Go After Guns
Miami Herald (Florida)
19 January 2002
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- There was more than the usual chaos on the crowded, exhaust-choked roads of Kandahar on Friday as gunmen for the city's three warlords started their first major check for illegal weapons. The operation was aimed at reassuring a dubious population that the U.S.-backed warlords are serious about security. Crime has been soaring, and the city teeters on the edge of anarchy. Result Unclear Gunmen... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Afghans Sweep for Guns
Reuters
18 January 2002
KANDAHAR/WASHINGTON -- Afghan police have fanned out in southern Kandahar to confiscate weapons from armed groups as the United States issued a global appeal to find five al Qaeda men it said could be plotting suicide attacks. The United States assured the new Afghan interim government of its long-term support for desperately needed reconstruction even as its hunt for members of Osama bin Laden's spread deeper into countries beyond... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Kabul Takes Steps Toward Disarming Afghan Population
New York Times
14 January 2002
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Starting Monday, people here whose jobs require them to carry guns will also have to carry government identification cards, the authorities said today. It is part of an ambitious plan by Afghanistan's interim rulers to end the ubiquity of weapons in this heavily armed society. Disarming Afghanistan's 24 million people is critical to restoring order in the country, according to Gen. Bismullah Khan, a Northern... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Afghanistan Aid Project Aimed at Disarmament
Japan Times
3 January 2002
Japan plans to launch a money-for-weapons aid project in Afghanistan that will help build social infrastructure, government sources said Wednesday. Through the project, Tokyo plans to set numerical goals of surrendered arms that, once met, would trigger official development assistance for the construction of schools, bridges and hospitals. Specifically, Japan would donate the money to build a school in a community that... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Kabul Prepares to Disarm Gun-Loving People
Reuters
27 December 2001
Sattar loves his AK-47. For the last seven years, the 25-year old Afghan mechanic has cleaned it and oiled it with dedicated attention, and even slept with it under his pillow. Now Afghanistan's new government wants to take it away. It's the best gun in the world, he said proudly, unclipping a full magazine from the Russian-made semi-automatic rifle. It doesn't break, it doesn't jam and it doesn't overheat. The... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Ultimatum for al-Qaida Forces
Newsday (New York)
12 December 2001
MILAWA, Afghanistan -- Besieged supporters of Osama bin Laden yesterday pleaded for mercy and promised they would surrender after Afghan fighters backed by intense U.S. air strikes pinned them to a summit in the White Mountains of eastern Afghanistan, regional military commanders said here yesterday. The whereabouts of bin Laden remained a mystery, however, and it was unclear whether the fleeing foreign Muslims in his al-Qaida terror... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Kandahar Aims for Gun Control
Associated Press
11 December 2001
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- As rowdy men with rifles roamed the grounds of the governor's mansion, the new chief of the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar said Tuesday he soon would rid the streets of armed groups. The Taliban have gone and U.S. warplanes have stopped bombing the city's outskirts. But frightened residents are staying home, worried about a new kind of violence in their midst -- victorious fighters who are shooting,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Dressed to Kill from Kabul to Kandahar
Washington Post
26 November 2001
These days, we Americans fight our wars with weapons that seem to come from Industrial Light & Magic. Our planes are sleek and characterless, our professionals more cleanshaven technicians than warriors, their faces lit by the phosphors of a glowing screen, their language of battle techno-crisp and parsed. It's all too Tom Clancy to be that interesting. Only a few of our thousands of men in and around Afghanistan even bother to... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Gun Control Policy, Jalalabad Style: He Who Grabs All the Rifles Writes the Rules
New York Times
23 November 2001
JALALABAD, Afghanistan -- A sound truck rumbles down the street, blaring a message from Hazarat Ali, the new sheriff: Don't carry weapons, night or day. If you are found with a weapon, you will be punished, no questions asked. Gun control is not in the Afghan tradition. When the Taliban's local leaders fled last week, gunmen loyal to old rebels took to the streets. Many belonged to Mr. Ali, the law-and- order minister for the Eastern... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
Arm the Afghan Women
Fox News (USA)
20 November 2001
It is commonplace to assume that toppling the Taliban will free Afghan women. But in an unstable country where soldiers celebrate conquest by raping -- and where there is currently no guarantee that whatever form of government eventually assumes control will not be equally oppressive toward females -- women have to protect themselves to remain free. Afghan women need to exercise the right of self-defense, including gun ownership.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
Alliance Promises to Maintain Order
San Francisco Chronicle
16 November 2001
Kabul, Afghanistan After roaring into Kabul and breaking an agreement with Western leaders to keep its army out of the city, the Northern Alliance appears serious about keeping the peace. We created a security plan. There will no longer be armed men in Kabul, Younus Qanooni, the alliance's interior minister, said yesterday. Tonight, we will make an announcement on the radio. Tomorrow, no one will be allowed to have a Kalashnikov... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Afghanistan
U.S. Sent Guns to bin Laden in 1980s
Associated Press
16 October 2001
WASHINGTON -- More than a decade ago, the U.S. government sent 25 high-powered sniper rifles to a group of Muslim fighters in Afghanistan that included Osama bin Laden, according to court testimony and the guns' maker. The rifles, made by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc. of Murfreesboro, Tenn., and paid for by the government, were shipped during the collaboration between the United States and Muslims then fighting to drive the... ( gunpolicy.org )
Afghanistan
A Nation Challenged
New York Times
7 October 2001
In the late 1980's, an American-based agent for Al Qaeda, the terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden, shipped to Afghanistan 25 military-style rifles capable of shooting down helicopters, piercing armor or destroying fuel tanks from long distances, according to a report by a gun control organization. The American-made weapons, Barrett .50-caliber rifles, were apparently used by Muslim militias trained by Mr. bin Laden to fight... ( gunpolicy.org )
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