Iraq
Soccer Fans Will be Arrested in Iraq if Caught Firing Guns in Celebration
Los Angeles Times
22 June 2008
BAGHDAD -- Sports became a surprise topic Sunday during a routine news briefing by the U.S. and Iraqi armed forces on the battle against the insurgency. With Iraq's beloved national soccer team poised to qualify for the World Cup in its game against Qatar on Sunday night, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Iraqi government's "Imposing the Law" campaign, delivered a stern warning to gun owners -- essentially every adult male... ( gunpolicy.org )
Serbia, Iraq
Serbia Begins Exporting Another 18,000 Handguns to Iraqi Security Forces
B92 Radio (Belgrade)
2 June 2008
KRAGUJEVAC, Serbia -- The first consignment of CZ 99 handguns destined for the Iraq market will be shipped out of the Zastava factory three weeks ahead of schedule. Even though the first shipment was first planned for July, according to CEO Rade Gromovic, the weapons are ready and the permits necessary for exporting them have been secured, so the date has been shifted to June 11. This will mark the official beginning of... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
US Marine Won't Serve Time for Smuggling AK-47 'War Trophy' from Iraq
Associated Press
2 June 2008
SAN DIEGO - A Marine sergeant from El Paso, Texas, accused of bringing an AK-47 assault rifle home from Iraq as a war trophy accepted a plea deal Monday that will keep him out of federal prison. Sgt. Leonardo San Juan agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of possession of an unregistered firearm and pay a $100 fine, said his attorney, Joseph Low. San Juan accepted the deal shortly before jury selection was set to begin.... ( 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 )
Iraq
To Curb Children's Aggressive Behaviour, Iraq Mulls Ban on Toy Gun Imports
Associated Press
22 April 2008
BAGHDAD -- A parliamentary committee is drafting a bill that would ban imports of toy guns and fireworks into Iraq, hoping to curb increasingly aggressive behavior among children who have grown up amid real war, a lawmaker said Tuesday. "The culture of violence has prevailed in our society and controlled the Iraqi family, and that has affected the culture of children," said Samira al-Moussawi, head of parliament's committee on children... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Cash Reward Offered to Baghdad Fighters Who Give Up Their Guns
Los Angeles Times
29 March 2008
BAGHDAD -- Prime Minister Nouri Maliki on Friday extended a deadline for fighters to disarm after nobody responded, and U.S. forces were pulled deeper into the showdown between Iraqi security forces and Shiite militiamen. The United States military said a Navy jet had strafed a mortar-launching position in the southern city of Basra with 20-millimeter cannon fire Thursday night, killing three "criminal militia members." It was the... ( 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, 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 )
Iraq, United States
US Fuels Iraq War with Another 437,079 M16, M4 Assault Rifles Over 3 Years
Defense Industry Daily (USA)
26 March 2008
As Iraq's military gets back to its feet, it has received armored vehicles, up-armored Hummers, and assorted weapons, vehicles, and aircraft. The initial priority on armed combat forces that could be supported by American combat logistics has started to give way to a buildup of Iraq's own logistics and maintenance capabilities. On March 21/08, the US DSCA announced a formal request by Iraq's government for various vehicles, small... ( gunpolicy.org )
Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, China
Demand for Guns Soars in Lebanon - Detailed Survey of Availability, Costs
Al-Hayat (London) / BBC Worldwide Monitoring, Transcript
18 March 2008
BEIRUT -- The Lebanese are talking these days about the phenomenon of the spread of weapons and the increasing trade in them. Many say this is a prelude to the ignition of rounds of warfare with the looming shadows of the sharp political and sectarian split seen on the Lebanese arena. Al-Hayat prepared a report on this phenomenon. It met weapons merchants, political activists, and civilians who revealed that the weapons market in Lebanon... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
200,000 Missing Guns at Centre of US, Iraq, Kuwait Military Corruption Probe
KippReport (Dubai) / Trends Magazine
16 March 2008
Major Gloria D. Davis of the US Army was buried in Washington's Arlington Cemetery, the last resting place of many of America's military heroes, on December 23, 2006. But the 47-year-old Davis, of Missouri, an 18-year army veteran, did not perish fighting her country's enemies. Instead, the US Army said, she died in "a non-combat-related incident" in Iraq. In fact, Gloria Davis put a bullet in her brain on December 12 in her quarters... ( gunpolicy.org )
Serbia, Iraq
Serbian Arms Industry Expects to Thrive on Major Gun Making Deal with Iraq
SEESAC (Belgrade) / BBC Monitoring Service, Beta News Agency, Transcript
10 March 2008
The contract on exporting weapons and military equipment to Iraq, worth 236m dollars, which the Serbian arms trading company Jugoimport SDPR signed with the government of Iraq, is the most significant deal the Serbian military industry has made since the end of 1990, when a contract was signed with Kuwait about the exports of 175 domestically produced M-84 tanks. The first instalment, adding up to 20 per cent of what the deal is... ( 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 )
Iraq
Iraqis Quietly Reverse Decision to Strip Female Police Officers of Guns
Los Angeles Times
1 February 2008
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi police officials have dropped plans to disarm policewomen and give their guns to male officers after an outcry from critics, who said the move was a sign of religious zealots' rising influence in Iraq. Despite the turnabout, which police confirmed Thursday, the U.S. military general who introduced women into the police force said they remained hindered in their attempts to practice real policing skills. "Even... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
US Still Can't Track, Trace, Prevent Diversion of Weapons Sent to Iraq
Associated Press
29 January 2008
WASHINGTON -- Weapons the U.S. provides to Iraqi security forces may still be ending up in the hands of terrorists, insurgents and criminals, the Defense Department inspector general told Congress on Tuesday. While U.S. commanders have made progress in controlling the flow of tens of thousands of munitions into Iraq, "there still remains work to be accomplished," Claude Kicklighter said in prepared remarks obtained by The Associated... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, Iraq
Gun Used to Shoot Policewoman Linked to UK Troops Smuggling Weapons
United Press International
30 December 2007
NOTTINGHAM, England -- Authorities have linked a gun used in a recent attempted homicide in Britain to the country's military. National Ballistics Intelligence Program officers said the weapon used to shoot police officer Rachael Brown in the city of Nottingham was likely smuggled back from Afghanistan or Iraq by British troops, or was stolen from one of the country's military bases, The Observer reported Sunday. While... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Iraqis Celebrate by Firing Guns Into the Air, Stray Bullet Hits British Officer
Sky News (UK)
23 December 2007
An RAF officer had a lucky escape despite being hit by a stray bullet during celebratory gunfire by a group of Iraqis. Flight Lieutenant Neil Lawrenson was wearing body armour -- but the round went into his upper arm. However, it entered at such an angle that it left almost no damage and did not hit any bone or muscle. If the bullet, which fell from the sky in Basra, had gone in at a different angle, the British... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
Pentagon Rushes to Release Delayed Gun Shipments to Iraq, Curb Leakage
Times of India / AP
21 December 2007
WASHINGTON -- The US Defence Department is reinforcing a badly understaffed office in Baghdad to speed the flow of war-fighting gear to Iraqi forces and to make sure the weapons do not end up in the hands of insurgents or on the black market. The nearly 1,000 per cent increase in staff -- from six people to almost 70 -- includes a two-star general, who arrived in Iraq two weeks ago to manage the expanding team. Army Reserve Maj... ( gunpolicy.org )
Serbia, Iraq
Serbia: Iraq Buys Another $230m Worth of Assault Weapons, Ammunition
ADN Kronos International / AKI (Italy)
21 December 2007
BELGRADE -- Serbia has signed a deal to export weapons and military equipment to Iraq worth 230 million dollars, defence minister Dragan Sutanovac told Belgrade television late on Thursday. Sutanovac said that the delegation of the Iraqi defence ministry visited Serbia on two occasions in recent months and the deal was signed with the state military trade company Jugoimport SDPR. He didn't specify which weapons had been... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
Pentagon Probes Possible GI Theft, Leakage of Up to 190,000 Guns to Iraq
Time (USA)
20 December 2007
The Pentagon is investigating whether some of the 190,000 weapons the U.S. military lost track of while training Iraqi troops were peddled on the black market by American soldiers and contractors, federal law-enforcement and congressional sources tell TIME. In recent weeks, Claude Kicklighter, the Pentagon's inspector general, has privately told lawmakers that the Defense Criminal Investigative Service has launched a probe into whether U.S.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
US Drive to Train, Arm Female Iraqi Police Thwarted by Religious Leaders
Los Angeles Times
13 December 2007
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi government has ordered all policewomen to hand in their guns for redistribution to men or face having their pay withheld, thwarting a U.S. initiative to bring women into the nation's police force. The Ministry of Interior, which oversees police, issued the order late in November, according to ministry documents, U.S. officials and several of the women. It affects all officers who have earned the... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, United States
Iraqi Soldiers Trade Iconic Soviet Assault Rifle, AK-47, for American M16
Los Angeles Times
2 December 2007
BESMAYA RANGE, Iraq -- The company of Iraqi soldiers pressed together for the dance of valor, singing of their bravery, stomping in the desert sand, thrusting their weapons skyward, just as they might have done not so many years ago to honor Saddam Hussein. But what were those sleek silhouettes they jabbed into the air? Not AK-47s. The iconic Soviet bloc assault rifle that has been synonymous for decades with America's adversaries... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, Iraq, Germany
British Soldiers Smuggled Guns from Iraq, Sold in Germany: Got 10yrs Jail
BBC News
23 November 2007
Two soldiers who smuggled guns out of Iraq intending to sell them to army colleagues have been jailed. Lance Corporal Michael White, 28, was jailed for 10 years and Corporal Anthony Creswick, 25, given nine-and-half years. Both men from the 3rd Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, along with Lance Corporal Brent Campbell who bought a gun, were also thrown out of the army. The Court Martial at Catterick Garrison... ( gunpolicy.org )
Turkey, Iraq
Kurdish Politician Allegedly Smuggled 11 Glock Pistols from Iraq to Turkey
Turkish Daily News / SIRNAK / Dogan News Agency
20 November 2007
A member of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) was arrested at the Habur Customs Gate for being in the possession of 11 handguns yesterday. The Gendarmerie command after receiving a tip off searched Sirin Balaman's taxi, who was returning from northern Iraq, at customs. Officers found 11 Glock brand handguns, a model that has been used in assassinations in the past, hidden in special compartments in Balaman's... ( gunpolicy.org )
Serbia, Iraq
Iraq Purchasing Serbian Sniper Rifles, Assault Weapons for US$50million
SEESAC (Belgrade) / VIP News Service
19 November 2007
The Iraqi Ministry of Defense is planning to buy weapons worth 50 million dollars from Serbia. For this reason the Iraqi Minister of Defense Abdul Qadr Jasim is currently visiting Serbia to negotiate the terms of this major acquisition, the Press daily reported on Saturday. In Belgrade, Jasim met with the Serbian Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac and visited the Serbian arms industry. The Iraqis are planning to buy large... ( gunpolicy.org )
Switzerland, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iraq
Swiss Gun Dealer Investigated for Trafficking Weapons from Bosnia to Iraq
SonntagsZeitung (Switzerland)
18 November 2007
ZURICH -- Swiss business man Marius Joray may have illegally moved thousands of small arms and huge quantities of ammunition from Bosnia to Iraq. The Swiss State Prosecutor has become involved. The Prosecutors spokesman Peter Lehmann says . "We have requested the Federal Police to enquiries." The research of the SonntagsZeitung shows that goods that were acquired through the Swiss business man were transferred with the help of Serbian... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
Baghdad Armoury Resembled 'Arms Bazaar' As US Lost Track of Its Guns
New York Times
11 November 2007
WASHINGTON -- As the insurgency in Iraq escalated in the spring of 2004, American officials entrusted an Iraqi businessman with issuing weapons to Iraqi police cadets training to help quell the violence. By all accounts, the businessman, Kassim al-Saffar, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, did well at distributing the Pentagon-supplied weapons from the Baghdad Police Academy armory he managed for a military contractor. But, co-workers... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
Iraq Complains at US Delay in Supplying 50,750 Additional M16 Assault Rifles
Boston Globe
3 November 2007
WASHINGTON -- More than a year after the government of Iraq paid more than $2 billion to the US government to purchase weapons and equipment for their military and police force, most of the equipment has yet to be delivered, slowing the ability of Iraqi units to take greater responsibility for their country's security, according to Iraqi officials. In October 2006, Iraq obtained congressional approval to purchase 50,750 M16 rifles... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, United States, Iran, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Hundreds of Thousands of Guns 'Leak' in Pentagon's Rush to Arm Iraqis
ISN Security Watch (Zurich), Web Page
2 November 2007
TEL AVIV -- Post-invasion Iraq has been blighted by a massive proliferation in small arms, conducted with the active involvement of both state and non-state actors, including major criminal entities. This proliferation profoundly undermines efforts to stabilize the security situation and future moves to reconstitute Iraq as a viable state. Unprotected stockpiles The 2003 invasion of Iraq was marked by the large-scale... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, Germany, United Kingdom
British Soldier Guilty of Smuggling Guns from Iraq to Sell in Germany
BBC News
26 October 2007
A British soldier has been found guilty of plotting to smuggle guns out of Iraq and sell them at his base in Germany. A court martial heard how L/Cpl Anthony Creswick was involved in selling illegal pistols bought on the black market in Basra. The panel heard how Creswick sold the guns with his colleague from the 3rd Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, L/Cpl Michael White. White has admitted his role in the operation... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Baghdad Girls & Boys 'Armed to the Teeth' with Imitation Assault Rifles
Agence France Presse
19 October 2007
BAGHDAD -- Try as he might, Baghdad businessman Ibrahim Georges can't persuade his 11-year-old daughter Sandy to lay down her arms in favour of something less hostile, such as a doll. "She loves her gun," Georges said as Sandy, short-haired and dressed in long trousers and T-shirt, proudly displayed a menacing GC toy automatic rifle that, according to a bold stamp on the side, was made in China. "She never plays with dolls,"... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations, Iraq, World
US Small Arms Policy: Having It Both Ways - Susan Waltz [Part 1 of 2]
World Policy Journal, Summer 2007;24:2:67-80 (USA)
19 October 2007
"An essential element of the success of the U.S. program is its export control laws and regulations. These laws are internationally recognized as the most robust and effective in the world.... [At the 2006 UN Review Conference on Small Arms] the United States will make the case that its laws, practices and enforcement procedures are effective models other nations should follow." -- Assistant Secretary of State John Hillen, Baltimore... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations, Iraq, World
US Small Arms Policy: Having It Both Ways - Susan Waltz [Part 2 of 2]
World Policy Journal, Summer 2007;24:2:67-80 (USA)
19 October 2007
[Continued from Part 1 of 2] Prying Open the Door Covert actions provide an additional, separate legal channel for shadow transfers. The statutory underpinnings for such operations, including weapons transfers, are found in the National Security Act, incorporated into Title 50 of the U.S. Code under the heading of War and National Defense. (The Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act, by contrast, are included... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, United Nations, Iraq, World
US Small Arms Policy: Having It Both Ways - World Policy Journal
World Policy Journal, Summer 2007;24:2:67-80 (USA)
19 October 2007
Does United States policy indeed represent the gold standard for export controls on small arms, as often asserted? Recent events suggest that it is time for a fresh look at this common claim. Ten years ago the United States and its European partners began to grapple with new realities about the proliferation of small arms. In the early 1990s, the forces that dissolved the Soviet Union also pried locks off the central warehouses... ( gunpolicy.org )
Austria, Iraq, United States
Lawyer Denies Large Number of Austrian-US Glock Pistols Missing in Iraq
Wiener Zeitung (Vienna)
11 October 2007
VIENNA -- Austrian arms maker Glock has said reports by the French news agency that thousands of its pistols are circulating on the black market in Iraq are not accurate. A lawyer for the company says there has been only a minimal loss of the weapons distributed to Iraqi police and security personnel. The economics ministry has said no export licenses for Glock pistols to Iraq have been granted this year. Earlier... ( gunpolicy.org )
Austria, Iraq, United States
Thousands of US-Supplied, Austrian Glock Pistols Leak to Iraqi Black Market
Wiener Zeitung (Vienna)
9 October 2007
VIENNA/BAGHDAD -- It's been reported that thousands of Austrian made pistols may be circulating on the black market in Iraq. US officials have, in recent months, been investigating the disappearance of tens of thousands of weapons which were meant to go to Iraqi security forces. The AFP news agency says over half of all weapons that were supposed to go to the Iraqi police and army have gone astray. That amounts to around 190,000... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
US Quietly Shifts Iraqis from AK-47s, Sells 123,544 New M-16 Assault Rifles
Wall Street Journal
8 October 2007
CAMP TAJI, Iraq -- In this war-ravaged country, a man is often measured by the make of his gun. When Iraqi soldier Abbas Ali Eadan picked up his brand new, U.S.-made M-16 rifle in August at this sprawling base north of Baghdad, his pride was palpable. "I can put a cigarette in an ashtray and hit it with my M-16 from far away, like a sniper," boasted the 39-year-old. "The terrorists may have rockets and grenades, but only... ( 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 )
United States, Iraq, Turkey
US Military Has Been Searching for Months, Can't Find Missing Guns in Iraq
Agence France Presse
6 October 2007
BAGHDAD -- They've been searching for months, but the US military has still not got to the bottom of what happened to tens of thousands of small arms handed to Iraqi forces, fearing many are now in the hands of insurgents. As an example, the Americans delivered 125,163 Austrian-made Glock semi-automatic pistols to Iraqi police between 2003 and late 2006, Pentagon figures shows. But in October 2006, senior US official Stuart... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq, Serbia, World
Serbian Gun Runner Shipped Planeloads of Guns, Ammo 'In Name of USA'
Blic Daily (Belgrade)
4 October 2007
Weapons deliveries have been chief part of his business dealing for 15 years already. The latest destination that his plane flew to four months ago with 40-ton load of weapons, was Iraq. He says that his 'Air Tomisko' transports everything from bananas to weapons. His name is Tomislav Damjanovic. In the report by UN Agency for weapons control his name is mentioned as a chief individual for transport of weapons from the Balkans to Africa... ( gunpolicy.org )
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iraq, United States
Bosnian Gun Trader Damjanovic Shipped AK-47s to Iraq for the Pentagon
ONASA BiH Press Review / Dnevni avaz (Bosnia)
2 October 2007
SARAJEVO -- Investigator of Amnesty International (AI) Hugh Griffits [Griffiths] claims that weapons from BiH to Iraq have been mainly transported through Tomislav Damjanovic, a close associate of the former president of Serbia and Yugoslavia and accused for war crimes, Slobodan Milosevic, Sarajevo daily Dnevni avaz writes. He stated, in an interview for the daily on the occasion to publishing a brochure on preventing ammunition... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
US Delivered Bulk Weapons to Iraq, But Lost Track of At Least 190,000 Guns
Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania) / AP
30 September 2007
WASHINGTON -- As President Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry clashed in late 2004 over the direction of the Iraq war, a rising Army star joined the debate. David H. Petraeus, then a lieutenant general and head of a new command overseeing the training and equipping of Iraq's security forces, said headway was being made. Tens of thousands of rifles, pistols, sets of body armor, vehicles and radios, along with millions... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
Pentagon Wants to Sell More Guns: 123,544 M-16 Assault Rifles to Iraq
Reuters
26 September 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon on Wednesday told Congress it was ready to sell Iraq up to $2.3 billion worth of weapons to help the Iraqi Army expand and take over missions now carried out by U.S. and allied forces. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign military sales, said the sale would include vehicles, small arms ammunition, explosives and communications equipment, as well as upgrades to 32 additional UH-1... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
Pentagon Plans to Sell 135,579 Guns, 169 Million Rounds of Ammo to Iraq
US Department of Defense, Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), Media release
25 September 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of various vehicles, small arms ammunition, explosives, and communications equipment as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $2.257 billion. The Government of Iraq has requested a possible sale of the following: MDE includes: (980)... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
M-16 Standard US Military Rifle 50 Years Old, Still Plagued With Problems
PBS TV NewsHour (USA), Transcript
24 September 2007
The M-16 semiautomatic rifle. With its shorter version, the M-4, it's the gun of our troops in combat. The hat's for the sun, by the way; the earmuffs for the noise. Jim Sullivan helped design this rifle during the Eisenhower administration. JIM SULLIVAN, M-16 Co-Designer: Fifty years ago. PAUL SOLMAN: Fifty years ago? JIM SULLIVAN: Well, we started on it 50 years ago this month. PAUL SOLMAN: That's 1957,... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
Blackwater Denies US-Iraq Gun Smuggling, Reported Gun Thieves to Feds
BBC News
22 September 2007
A US company that provides security for US diplomats in Iraq has denied as "baseless" allegations that it was involved in weapons smuggling. Blackwater's statement follows reports of a US investigation into allegations that some employees sent unlicensed weapons and equipment to Iraq. The weapons could have been used by a group labelled as terrorist by the US. Blackwater has been blamed by Iraqi officials for a... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
US Feds Investigate Blackwater for Gun Running: Illegal Weapons to Iraq
New York Times / Reuters
22 September 2007
WASHINGTON -- Federal prosecutors are looking into whether private U.S. security contractor Blackwater USA has shipped unlicensed automatic weapons and military goods into Iraq, a newspaper reported on Saturday. Two former Blackwater employees have pleaded guilty in Greenville, North Carolina, to weapons charges and are cooperating with the investigation, The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina reported. Federal... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq, Turkey
Blackwater, Staff Investigated for Smuggling Illegal Guns from US to Iraq
Associated Press
21 September 2007
WASHINGTON -- Federal prosecutors are investigating whether employees of the private security firm Blackwater USA illegally smuggled into Iraq weapons that may have been sold on the black market and ended up in the hands of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, officials said Friday. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh, N.C., is handling the investigation with help from Pentagon and State Department auditors, who have concluded... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
US to Send Another $3-4 Billion Worth of Guns to Iraq: Who'll Get Them?
Salon (USA)
18 September 2007
WASHINGTON -- The grand debate about Gen. David Petraeus' Capitol Hill testimony last week on U.S. strategy in Iraq focused primarily on troop levels, withdrawal dates and whether Bush's so-called troop surge was succeeding. But widely overlooked was Petraeus' sales pitch to lawmakers for one initiative he said will help save the war-torn country: massive arms sales from the U.S. government to Iraq. "Iraq is becoming one of the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq, Turkey
American Guns, Once Donated to Iraqis, Turn Up as Crime Guns in Turkey
New York Times
30 August 2007
WASHINGTON -- Weapons that were originally given to Iraqi security forces by the American military have been recovered over the past year by the authorities in Turkey after being used in violent crimes in that country, Pentagon officials said Wednesday. The discovery that serial numbers on pistols and other weapons recovered in Turkey matched those distributed to Iraqi police units has prompted growing concern by Defense Secretary... ( gunpolicy.org )
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iraq
Bosnia Opens In-Depth Probe Into Missing Weapons, Gun Exports to Iraq
SEESAC (Belgrade) / BBC Monitoring Service / Dnevni Avaz (Sarajevo), Transcript
30 August 2007
Dnevni Avaz has learned that Bosnia-Hercegovina police and intelligence agencies have launched an in-depth investigation into the export of Bosnian arms and equipment to Iraq. Several sources have confirmed that the investigation has already led to identifying a certain number of locals and internationals in B-H responsible for oversights in the process of delivering tens of thousands of rifles and hundreds of thousands of bullets... ( gunpolicy.org )
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iraq
Bosnia Launches 'Massive Investigation' to Trace Guns Lost On Way to Iraq
Independent News Agency (Skopje)
29 August 2007
SARAJEVO -- Police and intelligence agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina have launched a massive investigation into export of Bosnian arms to Iraq, local media said on Wednesday. The same sources said the initial inquiry reveals names of Bosnian citizens and foreign nationals suspected of doing mistakes in the course of export of thousands of rifles and hundreds of thousands rounds of ammunition to Iraq in the period 2004-2005. ... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq, Turkey, Kuwait
Pentagon Launches Search for Missing Guns, Middle East Contract Fraud
Reuters
29 August 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon's independent watchdog has launched a probe into the military's inability to account for weapons in Iraq after reports that Kurdish militants were using U.S. arms to attack Turkey, the Defense Department said on Wednesday. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the department's inspector general will go to Iraq next week with an 18-member assessment team to investigate the problem. "Since January,... ( 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 )
United States, Iraq
US Police Run Short of Ammo as American Wars Consume Billions of Bullets
Washington Post
28 August 2007
The U.S. military's soaring demand for small-arms ammunition, fueled by two wars abroad, has left domestic police agencies less able to quickly replenish their supplies, leading some to conserve rounds by cutting back on weapons training, police officials said. To varying degrees, officials in Montgomery, Loudoun and Anne Arundel counties said, they have begun rationing or making other adjustments to accommodate delivery schedules... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq, World
US Enlisted Notorious Arms Dealer Viktor Bout to Fly 'Missing' Guns to Iraq
Los Angeles Times, Opinion
13 August 2007
The United States seems to be missing some guns in Iraq. Somehow, the U.S. military has lost track of 110,000 AK-47 assault rifles and 80,000 pistols that were supposedly delivered from our caches to Iraqi security forces. It was classic bureaucratic bungling, the Government Accountability Office concluded last month in a report criticizing the Pentagon's failure to keep proper records and track weapons flows. But there may have... ( gunpolicy.org )
Italy, Iraq
Italian Luggage Search Unearths Huge Iraq, Libya Gun Trafficking Deals
Associated Press
12 August 2007
PERUGIA, Italy -- In a hidden corner of Rome's busy Fiumicino Airport, police dug quietly through a traveler's checked baggage, looking for smuggled drugs. What they found instead was a catalog of weapons, a clue to something bigger. Their discovery led anti-Mafia investigators down a months-long trail of telephone and e-mail intercepts, into the midst of a huge black-market transaction, as Iraqi and Italian partners haggled over... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, United States
Tide of Legal, Illegal Guns Floods Iraq as US, Smugglers Pour in Weapons
International Herald Tribune / AP
12 August 2007
BAGHDAD -- Since the U.S. invasion in 2003, when looters ransacked armories and deserting Iraqi soldiers took their rifles home, this bloodied land has been flooded by a sea of weapons fed from both the legal and illegal market. Besides more than 700,000 rifles and other weapons arming the new Iraqi army and police, at least 7 million guns are believed in the hands of civilians, including insurgents and sectarian militias, in a... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
Now, What Did I Do With Those 190,000 AK-47s and Pistols in Iraq?
Chicago Sun-Times, Editorial
8 August 2007
Flabbergasted. That's how we feel about the United States' misplacement of billions of dollars in weapons meant to train Iraqi military and police. We aren't talking lost keys, here, but assault rifles and pistols -- at least 190,000. The U.S. Government Accountability Office discovered that the weapons -- mostly AK-47s and Glock pistols -- were missing during a routine audit, released a few days ago. The weapons were mislaid between... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, United States
190,000 Assault Rifles, Handguns Given to Iraq Are Missing - US Govt Audit
Washington Post
6 August 2007
The Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to a new government report, raising fears that some of those weapons have fallen into the hands of insurgents fighting U.S. forces in Iraq. The author of the report from the Government Accountability Office says U.S. military officials do not know what happened to 30 percent of the weapons the... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
Pentagon Lost Almost 200,000 AK-47 Assault Rifles, Handguns in Iraq
CNN
6 August 2007
WASHINGTON -- Nearly 200,000 U.S.-supplied rifles and pistols meant for Iraqi security forces are unaccounted for in Iraq, according to a report to Congress. Loose record-keeping caused the Pentagon and the U.S. command in Iraq to lose track of about 110,000 AK-47 rifles and 80,000 pistols provided to the new Iraqi national police and army, the Government Accountability Office told Congress. The investigative arm of Congress,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, Middle East, United States, World
Celebratory Gunfire Kills Bystanders, Children Around the World
Star Phoenix (Saskatoon), Column
31 July 2007
Why is it that anytime there is a celebration in the Middle East, the first thing people do is reach for a gun and start firing in the air? Watching the recent victory celebrations following Iraq's big soccer triumph, I found it hard to focus on what winning the Asian Cup means for the future of the country. All I could think of is where those bullets might be landing. Reports out of Baghdad suggest at least four people... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
7 Dead, 50 Wounded by Stray Bullets as Iraqi Soccer Fans Fire Guns in Air
Reuters
29 July 2007
BAGHDAD -- Crowds of ecstatic Iraqis wept tears of joy and fired rifles into the air on Sunday after their soccer team's victory in the Asian Cup triggered the biggest street celebrations since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Police in Baghdad and Kut reported at least seven deaths and more than 50 people wounded by stray bullets as gun-toting revelers took to the streets in a wave of euphoria unprecedented after four years of war.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Stray Bullets Killed At Least 7 Iraqis in Previous Soccer Win Celebrations
Associated Press
29 July 2007
BAGHDAD -- Defying orders from authorities, revelers fired celebratory gunshots and poured into the streets after Iraq beat Saudi Arabia to clinch its first Asian Cup soccer championship today. Mosques broadcast calls for the shooting to stop, and security forces enforced a vehicle ban in an effort to prevent a repeat of car bombings that killed dozens celebrating Iraq's progress to the finals Wednesday. Iraqis welcomed... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
Is Baghdad Safer Than Chicago? Barack Obama's Claim Examined
Time (USA)
19 July 2007
This past Sunday, Barack Obama gave a speech at the Vernon Park Church of God in Chicago in which he noted that the number of city schoolchildren killed in the last school year was higher than the number of soldiers from all of Illinois killed in Iraq over the same period. "From South Central L.A. to Newark, New Jersey, there's an epidemic of violence that's sickening the soul of this nation," the Illinois Senator told the crowd. "The violence... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, Australia
One of Saddam's Golden Guns Given to Australian War Memorial Museum
Courier-Mail (Brisbane) / AAP
17 June 2007
A gold-plated assault rifle, once carried by one of the late Saddam Hussein's palace guards, will go on display at the Australian War Memorial. The eye-catching weapon was today handed by army deputy chief Major General John Cantwell to war memorial assistant director Nola Anderson today for permanent display in the new post-1945 gallery. War Memorial senior curator Nick Fletcher said this is a fully functional Iraqi-manufactured... ( gunpolicy.org )
Moldova, Iraq, Russia, Middle East
Former KGB Smuggles Russian Guns from Transnistria, Moldova to Iraq
CBN News, Transcript
22 March 2007
It's an all-too-familiar scene -- Islamic insurgents attacking U.S. troops near Baghdad. But where are these radicals getting their support to take on the American military machine? While much of the world blames Iran and Syria, evidence points to help coming from thousands of miles away. Ariel Cohen of the Heritage Foundation said, "Of course, we see a large number of small weapons turning up in Iraq in the hands of Hezbollah,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, United States
Iraq's $3 Billion Gun Buying Binge as US Pours In M16, M4 Assault Rifles
Washington Examiner
20 March 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has begun delivering more than $3 billion in U.S-made arms to Iraq in a new program to introduce American firepower into Iraq's aging Soviet-based arsenal. When the Pentagon first began building the 320,000-strong Iraq Security Force in 2003, U.S. commanders decided to keep AK-47 rifles and other East Bloc gear. The theory was it would speed the training process since the Iraqis already knew... ( gunpolicy.org )
Turkey, Iraq, United States
US Weapons 'Missing' in Iraq Said Being Used in Crime, Terrorism in Turkey
Hurriyet (Istanbul) / BBC Monitoring, Transcript
24 February 2007
Weapons that have been stolen from US arms depots in Iraq are now in the hands of all types of groups in Turkey. No official can believe that hundreds of thousands of weapons were simply stolen from US arms depots. As a result, other explanations are sought. After Turkey launched an investigation into the "origins of the weapons," the United States reported that weapons were indeed stolen from its depots and supposedly started its own investigation.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Malta, Iraq, Italy, Libya, China, Russia
Maltese Company, Libya, China Accused of Gun Running to Iraqi Insurgents
Independent (Malta)
15 February 2007
Italian authorities yesterday announced they had interrupted an international arms trafficking deal that was to have operated between China, Malta, Italy and Libya, and which planned to supply hundreds of thousands of weapons to Iraqi insurgents, international media reported yesterday. The operation was to have seen an unnamed Maltese company acting as a middleman between Chinese weapons producers and Libyan buyers, who would, in... ( gunpolicy.org )
Austria, Iran, Iraq
Austria 'Not Responsible' for Sniper Rifles Exported to Iran, Used in Iraq
Telegraph (UK)
14 February 2007
Austria yesterday washed its hands of any responsibility after it was revealed that powerful sniper rifles it sold to Iran had been acquired by insurgents in Iraq. The Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday that American troops had recovered more than 100 Steyr HS50 Mannlicher rifles, part of a consignment of 800 sold to Iran by Austria last year, during a series of raids in Iraq. Astrid Harz, a spokesman for the Austrian foreign... ( gunpolicy.org )
Austria, Iran, Iraq
US Claims Austrian Armour-piercing Sniper Rifles Sold to Iran, Found in Iraq
Spiegel (Germany)
14 February 2007
VIENNA -- More than 800 high-powered weapons were shipped to Iran from Austria in 2004 over US and British objections. Now, the rifles may have turned up in the hands of Iraq insurgents. It is considered one of the world's most modern and precise weapons -- the Steyr HS .50, made by Austrian weapons manufacturer Steyr-Mannlicher. The easily disassembled gun goes for about 4,000 in the Internet. And the buyer gets a deadly weapon... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, Iran, Austria
As Predicted, Austrian Sniper Rifles Sold to Iran Now With Iraqi Insurgents
Telegraph (UK)
13 February 2007
Austrian sniper rifles that were exported to Iran have been discovered in the hands of Iraqi terrorists, The Daily Telegraph has learned. More than 100 of the.50 calibre weapons, capable of penetrating body armour, have been discovered by American troops during raids. The guns were part of a shipment of 800 rifles that the Austrian company, Steyr-Mannlicher, exported legally to Iran last year.The Steyr HS50 is a long range,... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Iraqi Police Sell Their New Guns on Black Market, Prices Soar in Baghdad
Washington Post / Reuters
5 February 2007
BAGHDAD -- Like many of his colleagues, Abu Zaid was issued an Austrian-made Glock pistol when he joined the new U.S.-trained and equipped Iraqi police force. But after narrowly escaping death twice, including being shot at near a polling station in Baghdad during national elections in December 2005, he decided to quit, he said. "I sold my Glock pistol and my bullet-proof vest for $1,500 so that I can feed my family until... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Baghdad's Gun Runners, Weapon Traders Are Making a Killing
BBC Monitoring / Agence France Presse
18 December 2006
BAGHDAD -- Sporting a beige jacket, starched pink shirt and polished shoes, Haider looks like any other young businessman about town, not a sly gunrunner who wheels and deals in Iraq's burgeoning arms trade. Yet with the country sucked into sectarian warfare and the classic laws of the marketplace clicking into gear, traders like Haider -- not his real name -- are making a highly-illegal killing. He admits prices have "quadrupled... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, Iraq, Germany
Four British Soldiers Admit Charges in Iraq-Germany Gun Smuggling Plot
Guardian (UK)
11 December 2006
Four British soldiers pleaded guilty at a court martial today to charges linked to an alleged plot to smuggle guns out of Iraq and trade them for drugs and cash. Lance Corporal Ross Phillips and Private Shane Pleasant admitted possession of a prohibited pistol at a hearing at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire. Lance Corporal Ben Whitfield and Private Robert Marlow both admitted an offence of trying to pervert the course of justice.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, United States
Black-Market Gun Prices Surge as Weapons Leak Into Iraq Chaos
New York Times
10 December 2006
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq -- The Kurdish security contractor placed the black plastic box on the table. Inside was a new Glock 19, one of the 9-millimeter pistols that the United States issued by the tens of thousands to the Iraqi Army and police. This pistol was no longer in the custody of the Iraqi Army or police. It had been stolen or sold, and it found its way to an open-air grocery stand that does a lively black-market business in... ( gunpolicy.org )
World, Iraq
Global Gun Trade: Reducing Demand for Firearms is 'Smart for Business'
Baltimore Sun (Maryland), Opinion
3 December 2006
Last week marked an unfortunate anniversary: The U.S. presence in Iraq is now longer than U.S. involvement in World War II. A major reason for the length of our stay in Iraq has been the widespread use of large numbers of small arms and light weapons as the primary tool of war. These weapons are devastating in terms of lives lost, but in Iraq, and many other conflict areas, small arms proliferation also has substantially hindered economic... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, United States
US Funnels 500,000 Unregistered Guns, Small Arms Into Iraq's Black Market
New York Times, Editorial
31 October 2006
About the last thing the United States ought to be doing in Iraq is funneling weapons into black-market weapons bazaars, as sectarian militias arm themselves for civil war. Yet that is just what Washington may have been doing for the past several years, thanks to an inexplicable decision that standard Pentagon regulations for registering weapons transfers did not apply to the Iraq war. Of more than 500,000 weapons turned over to... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, United States
370,000 Unregistered Small Arms in Iraq: CNN Stuart Bowen Interview
CNN 'American Morning'
30 October 2006
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: There are three new disturbing reports out of Iraq today. Thousands of weapons intended for the Iraqi troops are missing, there's confusion about the training of security forces, and there are failures in the rebuilding of Iraq. All these reports come from the office of Stuart Bowen. He is the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. Mr. Bowen's with us this morning from Washington, D.C. Nice... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, United States
US Made No Effort to Register, Track Thousands of Guns Lost in Iraq
New York Times
30 October 2006
The American military has not properly tracked hundreds of thousands of weapons intended for Iraqi security forces and has failed to provide spare parts, maintenance personnel or even repair manuals for most of the weapons given to the Iraqis, a federal report released Sunday has concluded. The report was undertaken at the request of Senator John W. Warner, the Virginia Republican who is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, United States
Washington Audit Finds US Has Misplaced 14,030 Guns, Small Arms in Iraq
Associated Press
29 October 2006
WASHINGTON -- Nearly one of every 25 weapons the military bought for Iraqi security forces is missing, a government audit said Sunday. Many others cannot be repaired because parts or technical manuals are lacking. A second report found "significant challenges remain that put at risk" the U.S. military's goal of strengthening Iraqi security forces by transferring all logistics operations to the defense ministry by the end of 2007.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Iraqis Refuse to Disarm, Gun Runners Thrive as More Weapons Arrive
IRIN (UN News)
26 October 2006
BAGHDAD -- Abu Zaineb, 56, is one of the most well known small arms dealers in Baghdad. He sells guns under the table in his upmarket shop in Mansour, one of the capital's most prestigious districts. "People need to protect themselves from the ongoing violence in Iraq and my job is to support them doing that. With the official prohibition on selling weapons, we are being forced to work through the black market. I am just trying... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Gunshots Killed Most of the Estimated 654,965 Wartime Casualties in Iraq
The Lancet (London), Excerpt
12 October 2006
Excerpts from Summary: Of post-invasion deaths [in Iraq], 601,027 (426,369 -- 793,663) were due to violence, the most common cause being gunfire... Gunfire remains the most common cause of death, although deaths from car bombing have increased... Most violent deaths were due to gunshots (56%); air strikes, car bombs, and other explosions/ordnance each accounted for 13-14% of violent deaths. The number of deaths... ( gunpolicy.org )
United Kingdom, Iraq
British Army Examines Soldiers' Illegal Trade in Guns from Iraq
Guardian (UK)
25 September 2006
Army prosecutors are investigating the "unlawful possession" of guns by British soldiers who allegedly smuggled the weapons out of Iraq and sold them on the black market for drugs and money. The Ministry of Defence confirmed yesterday that the Army Prosecuting Authority is conducting an inquiry, following a report that soldiers from the 3rd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment had sold the guns. It is understood that they are not British... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Iraq
US Soldier Accused of Smuggling Machine Guns Home from Iraq
International Herald Tribune / AP
21 September 2006
ATLANTA -- A former National Guard soldier is accused of bringing machine guns from Iraq to the United States and trying to sell them to a northwest Georgia gun dealer. Robert James Clymore of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was arraigned in federal court Thursday on charges of unlawful importation, possession, transportation and transfer of machine guns. U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said Clymore obtained the guns while on active duty... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq, United States
US Forces Search Baghdad Homes, Register, Confiscate Iraqi Civilian Guns
Peninsula (Qatar) / AFP
15 August 2006
BAGHDAD -- "Do you have a gun? Do you mind if we check around?" says the polite but firm US soldier as he conducts house-to-house searches for illegal weapons in Baghdad's western Ghazalia neighbourhood. Iraqi and US forces have launched what amounts to an operation to recover Baghdad from the grip of sectarian death squads and insurgent groups, whose reign of terror has left thousands dead in the past few months. The house-to-house... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Guns Galore as Civilians Tool Up, and Anarchy Stalks Baghdad
Reuters
13 July 2006
BAGHDAD -- Seif has never fired a gun. He wouldn't know how one worked, he says. But that did not stop him buying both a pistol and an AK-47 assault rifle last month. In Baghdad, it can seem everyone these days is armed, a mark of violence that is ever more anarchic and prompting efforts by the government, U.S. military, and even militia leaders, to curb rogue gunmen, especially among majority Shi'ites, who threaten what the prime... ( 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 )
Bosnia & Herzegovina, United Kingdom, Iraq
20,000 AK-47s in UK, Guns from Bosnia, Italy to Iraq 'Leaking to Insurgents'
BBC News
23 May 2006
The United Nations agency responsible for decommissioning weapons in Eastern Europe has criticised arms exports to Iraq. Seesac has told File On 4 that the sale of large numbers of guns from Bosnia has compromised its operation. There are also concerns that some pistols flown from the UK which were intended for Iraqi police are now in the hands of insurgents. A Foreign Office Minister is being pressed for details... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iraq
Pentagon 'Loses' 200,000 AK-47s, 99 Tons of Ammo in Bosnia-to-Iraq Deal
OneWorld (USA)
18 May 2006
SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. government has lost track of over 200,000 machine guns that were supposed to be used by the Iraqi police, according to a prominent human rights watchdog calling for tougher international regulations on arms dealings. The 99-ton cache of AK-47s was to have been secretly flown to Iraq in 2004 from a U.S. base in Bosnia, but there is no proof that the four plane loads of arms ever arrived, said Amnesty International... ( gunpolicy.org )
United States, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iraq
Bulk Guns from Bosnia to Iraq 'Go Missing' as Pentagon Uses Gun Dealers
Guardian (UK)
12 May 2006
ZAGREB -- The Pentagon has secretly shipped tens of thousands of small arms from Bosnia to Iraq in the past two years, using a web of private companies, at least one of which is a noted arms smuggler blacklisted by Washington and the UN. According to a report by Amnesty International, which investigated the sales, the US government arranged for the delivery of at least 200,000 Kalashnikov machine guns from Bosnia to Iraq in 2004-05.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Russia, Iraq, World
Kalashnikov, Izhmash Claim a Billion AK-47s, Variants Worldwide
Reuters
17 April 2006
MOSCOW -- Mikhail Kalashnikov, designer of the world's most popular assault rifle, says that U.S. soldiers in Iraq are using his invention in preference to their own weapons, proving that his gun is still the best. "Even after lying in a swamp you can pick up this rifle, aim it and shoot. That's the best job description there is for a gun. Real soldiers know that and understand it," the 86-year-old gunmaker told a weekend news conference... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Many Iraqi Soldiers Wounded by Own Guns
Associated Press
3 April 2006
BIDIMNAH, Iraq -- The two bloodied, wincing Iraqi soldiers -- bandages wrapped around their legs -- hobbled onto the waiting ambulance, wounded during a house-to-house search near this farming town. The culprit was a common one: not insurgents, but gunfire from fellow soldiers. U.S. trainers who mentor Iraqi troops say a lack of gun safety, or what they call "muzzle discipline," has led to many injuries and deaths across the country.... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Sectarian Strife Fuels Gun Sales in Baghdad
New York Times
3 April 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- With chipped, painted fingernails, Nahrawan al-Janabi picked up a cartridge and slid it into the chamber. "Like this," she said, loading her new Glock pistol with a loud, satisfying click. "You see, like this." Akram Abdulzahra now keeps his revolver handy at his job in an Internet cafe. Haidar Hussein, a Baghdad bookseller, just bought a fully automatic assault rifle and has been teaching his wife how... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Guns in Demand as Iraqi Civilians Seek Protection
Reuters
5 March 2006
BAGHDAD -- Like most Iraqis, Abu Ali has long kept a Kalashnikov assault rifle hidden in his bedroom. But it was not until sectarian violence pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war these past two weeks that the 56-year-old engineer thought that one automatic weapon was not enough. "Danger is everywhere," said Ali, a short, stocky man. "I always had a Kalashnikov at home but after the violence I bought a 9mm pistol. I carry... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Journalists in Iraq 'Must Resist Call to Carry Arms,' Says Safety Institute
Guardian (UK)
24 February 2006
Journalists in Iraq are being asked not to arm themselves in the wake of the murder of al-Arabiya news journalist Atwar Bahjat and two colleagues The International News Safety Institute has pleaded with journalists to resist suggestions that they should carry guns in Iraq, following the killing of al-Arabiya's Iraq correspondent Bahjat, cameraman Khalid Mahmoud and technician Adnan Khairullah yesterday. At a news conference... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iraq
Iraqi Women Take Up Arms as Security Guards
Washington Times
24 October 2005
BAGHDAD -- While most Iraqi women live in fear of terrorists and criminals, one small band of women has taken up arms and is prepared to fight back. Employed by a private security company, the women ride in the front passenger seat posing as ordinary housewives when the company's drivers transport customers around the city in nondescript vehicles. But their firearms are always close at hand, and they are trained to respond... ( gunpolicy.org )
Iran, Iraq, United Kingdom, United States
Arms Smuggled Under 'Close Eye' of Coalition Forces: Police Chief
Mehr News Agency
10 October 2005
TEHRAN -- The detained members of an arms smuggling gang have admitted that British forces in Iraq monitor the smuggling of arms from Iraq to Iran, the Fars news agency reported, quoting a provincial police officer. Brigadier General Isa Daraei, the commander of the Law Enforcement Forces in Khuzestan Province, told reporters some 117 cache of small arms including handguns and Kalashnikov have been confiscated from four smugglers... ( gunpolicy.org )
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