Firearm News
European Union,Bulgaria,Russia,West Africa,Pakistan,France,Australia,United Kingdom,Canada,Germany,Italy,United States,Haiti,Côte d'Ivoire,Madagascar
Study Finds Small Arms Have Serious Impact on Fragile States
6 July 2011
Voice of America
A new study finds the global authorized trade in small arms, light weapons, and their ammunition is worth nearly $7.1 billion a year. In its annual report, the independent think tank, the Geneva Forum, also examines the serious impact small arms proliferation is having upon three so-called fragile states-Madagascar, Ivory Coast and Haiti.
Arms exporters
The survey finds in 2008, the United States, Italy and Germany topped the list of 14 top exporters of small arms... (GunPolicy.org)
Ghana,Nigeria,Côte d'Ivoire,Libya,West Africa
West Africa Faces Spiral of Gun Running, Mercenaries and Armed Violence
3 July 2011
Daily Sun (Nigeria), Editorial
The alert by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on trafficking in arms and mercenaries in the sub region deserves urgent attention.
This is more so as it has been reported that the increasing shootings and bombings in the Northern part of the country have cross border influences. The ECOWAS intelligence report revealed that the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in West Africa is the fallout of the ongoing crisis in Libya and the recent... (GunPolicy.org)
Liberian Police Found a Huge Cache of Arms in Region Bordering Ivory Coast
16 June 2011
Washington Post / AP
MONROVIA, Liberia — Liberia's national police said Thursday it had unearthed a huge cache of arms in a region of the country straddling the border with neighboring Ivory Coast.
The area in Grand Gedeh County where the arms were found is one of the places where mercenaries and militias employed by Ivory Coast's deposed ruler fled after he was toppled on April 11.
A police statement said authorities had uncovered 1,439 AK-47 rounds, over 70 AK-47 magazines, 67 AK-47... (GunPolicy.org)
Amnesty Offered, No Prosecution for Illegal Guns in Cote d'Ivoire [Fr]
15 June 2011
Agence Ivoirienne de Presse (Côte d'Ivoire)
[Translated summary: Following the post-electoral crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, authorities called the owners of illegal firearms to surrender them without delay. They ensured that there will be no prosecution against those who do.]
BOUAFLE - Le préfet de la région de la Marahoué et du département de Bouaflé, Alliali Kouadio a appelé dimanche les détenteurs illicites d'armes à feu à les déposer sans délai, auprès des chefs de village, des religieux ou à la... (GunPolicy.org)
Togo President Asks Ivorian Refugees to Surrender all Firearms [Fr]
27 May 2011
Republic of Togo, Media release
[Translated summary: The president, of the National Commission to Combat the Proliferation, Illicit Circulation of and Traffic in Small Arms and Light Weapons, has invited Ivorian refugees, present in Togo, to surrender all firearms in their possession.]
Le colonel Ali Nadjombé, président de la Commission nationale de lutte contre la prolifération des armes légères, a invité jeudi les réfugiés ivoiriens présents au Togo à remettre toutes les armes qui... (GunPolicy.org)
Sri Lanka,Zimbabwe,Côte d'Ivoire
Is Zimbabwe Illegally Supplying Guns, Ammunition to Côte d'Ivoire?
31 January 2011
Institute for Security Studies (Pretoria)
On 23 January, the Sunday Times in the UK reported that in the dying days of 2010 the Zimbabwe government clandestinely transferred arms to incument President Laurent Gbagbo's administration in the Ivory Coast.
The arms consignment allegedly comprised small arms, mortars and ammunition, which was mainly of Chinese origin. The transfer was facilitated by the state-owned Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI), and was supposedly dispatched with the blessing of Zimbabwean... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Dealer, Ivory Coast Colonel Charged in $4 Million Gun Smuggling
10 October 2010
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ivory Coast army colonel arrived in New York on Aug. 29, and authorities say he planned to return home days later with $4 million in guns and ammunition his country purchased from a suburban Washington D.C. broker.
Instead, Col. Nguessan Yao is being held in federal custody in a Northern California jail and the broker is scheduled to appear in court next week to answer charges that the two conspired to illegally circumvent a worldwide arms embargo... (GunPolicy.org)
Gang Aimed to Smuggle $3.8 Million in Weapons from US to Ivory Coast
13 September 2010
Washington Times
Federal agents have foiled a plot to export $3.8 million worth of small arms — including thousands of handguns and tens of thousands of tear gas grenades — to the Ivory Coast in violation of a U.N. arms embargo and U.S. law.
Undercover officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Ivorian national Nguessan Yao, 55, in New York last week on a charge of conspiracy. Mr. Yao was being transferred to Northern California to face trial, ICE said in... (GunPolicy.org)
Côte d'Ivoire Begins 'Election Without Gun Violence' Campaign [Fr]
15 January 2010
Le Patriote (Abidjan)
[Translated summary: 'Elections without Gun Violence' was launched in Abidjan at the National Commission on small arms, by Michele Pepe, president of the Cote d'Ivoire Action Network on Small Arms (RASALAO), an IANSA affiliate.]
Les élections, on le sait, sont généralement sources de passion et de tension en Afrique. La Côte d'Ivoire, qui se prépare, pour l'élection présidentielle, n'échappe pas à la règle.
C'est donc en connaissance de cause, que la... (GunPolicy.org)
Côte d'Ivoire 'Awash in Arms' Held by Poor, Angry Men, Ex-rebels with Guns
17 November 2007
IRIN (UN News)
DAKAR — While Ivorian politicians and the international community lament a lack of progress in disarmament and other aspects of the country's peace accord, ordinary citizens are increasingly falling victim to violent crime in their daily activities.
In one incident in October, seven masked men, each carrying two AK-47s, held up market trucks in the northwest.
"They shot in the air and forced us off the trucks," a woman merchant in the regional capital, Odienne,... (GunPolicy.org)
West African Nations, NGOs Meet to Battle Gun Running, Gun Violence
22 June 2007
Daily Observer (Banjul)
ABIDJAN, Cote d'Ivoire — The first sub-regional small arms-sensitive civil society consultative forum on the implementation of the Economic Community of West African States Small Arms Control Programme (Ecosap) opened on Wednesday at the Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.
About a 100 members of the civil society, including delegates from 13 Ecowas member states are participating in the two-day Waansa (West African Action Network on Small Arms) and the Ecosap-... (GunPolicy.org)
Ten Million Illicit Guns Said to Circulate in West African Region
22 June 2007
Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
ABIDJAN, Côte d'Ivoire — Some 10 million small arms are circulating in the West African sub-region, according to Désiré Godefroy Adjoussou, chair of the Ivorian National Commission on the proliferation and illegal circulation of small arms.
Speaking Wednesday at the opening of an ECOWAS forum on small arms circulation, Adjoussou blamed the problem on the many military coups in the sub-region, conflicts, porosity of borders, and ineffective arms control.
It was... (GunPolicy.org)
NY Man Caught Accused of Smuggling Guns from San Diego to Ivory Coast
27 September 2006
Associated Press
An Ivory Coast man was charged Wednesday with trying to export guns and other weapons to the African nation.
Yssouf Diabate, who lives in New York City, repeatedly met an undercover agent in San Diego to negotiate the purchase of "a shopping list of firearms and firearm magazines," the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego said in a statement.
Diabate, 40, gave the agent a $10,000 cashier's check and another $13,200 to complete one purchase, authorities said. He... (GunPolicy.org)
Militias Fail to Show for Ivory Coast Gun Surrender Ceremony
16 June 2006
IRIN (UN News)
ABIDJAN — Disarmament of pro-government militias in western Cote d'Ivoire failed to start as planned on Friday after some 2,000 fighters, due to hand over their weapons, failed to show up for the special ceremony.
The fighters, belonging to three pro-government militia groups, are scheduled to disband and turn in their guns at the local court in the western town of Guiglo, some 500 km northwest of the main city Abidjan, said Honorine Kouman of the National Programme... (GunPolicy.org)
Spread of Guns Reaches 'Worrying Proportions' in Côte d'Ivoire
18 May 2006
Inter Press Service News Agency
ABIDJAN — Efforts to identify potential voters and disarm combatants are expected to begin Thursday in strife-torn Côte d'Ivoire, in preparation for elections that must take place by the end of October. However, the guns held by rebels and fighters that support the government aren't the only weapons giving cause for concern.
There is also alarm about the spread of illegal small arms in this West African country.
"The proliferation of light weapons has reached... (GunPolicy.org)
Guns of War Feed Crime Explosion
8 November 2005
IRIN (UN) News
ABIDJAN — The six shoeless thieves that robbed the widow's house in the well-to-do suburb of Côte d'Ivoire's main city Abidjan took off with all her money and jewellery after scaring the guard out of his wits with their AK-47 assault rifles.
"They tied up the watchman, took his key and opened the gate," said Rene Kanga, still shaken from the night attack that left his widowed aunt without the cash she had laid out for her husband's funeral.
The thieves were all... (GunPolicy.org)
Rebels, Militia Have Too Much to Gain to Give Up the Gun?
4 November 2005
IRIN (UN News)
BOUAKE, Cote d'Ivoire — Besuited rebel leader, Guillaume Soro, and loyalist militia boss, Chief Denis Glofiei Maho, may be on opposite sides of the divide in Cote d'Ivoire, but they have one thing in common.
Both are confident that when the time comes, every one of the thousands of fighters under their command will hand over their weapons.
"There will be absolutely no problem," said Soro, the leader of the New Forces rebels that have controlled the northern half of... (GunPolicy.org)
Halt to Ivory Coast Arms Exports
9 November 2004
Jerusalem Post (Israel)
The Director General of the Ministry of Defense has ordered the immediate cessation of arms deals to the Ivory Coast [Côte d'Ivoire].
Amos Yaron issued instructions Tuesday to suspend granting of all export licenses and negotiation for arms contracts with the beleaguered West African state.
"This decision was made in light of the recent developments in this country and at the request of the French government. It will remain in effect until the situation in that... (GunPolicy.org)
Army Continues Giving Guns to Liberian Refugees - UN
12 May 2003
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
GUIGLO, western Cote d'Ivoire — The Cote d'Ivoire army is continuing to recruit young Liberians from Guiglo refugee camp in the west of the country to fight against Ivorian rebel forces in the area, according to UN officials and Liberian residents in the camp and the commander of French peacekeeping forces in the area.
They said that young men with AK-47 automatic rifles left the neat settlement of palm thatched mud-huts almost every day to go out and and fight in... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)