Gun Policy News
Firearm violence, gun control and small arms
Afghanistan and Libya: All Weapons in the Hands of Islamic Terrorists
22 September 2021
Corriere della Sera (italy)
Afghanistan, Libya and Syria are the three crises that today fuel the archipelago of Islamic extremism. Three countries that are out of control and where Western intervention has increased the risk to global security. In Doha, in recent months, the Americans negotiated the withdrawal from Afghanistan with the Taliban, promising: we will leave, but you will not allow al Qaeda or other extremist groups to operate in the country. We know how that went. And when countries... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Iraq,Afghanistan
US Lost Track of Millions of Guns Sold to Middle East After 9/11
30 October 2016
The Washington Diplomat (US)
The United States has flooded Iraq and Afghanistan with billions of dollars worth of small arms since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and has lost track of millions of them, according to a recently published report on 412 Department of Defense contracts by the London-based advocacy nonprofit Action on Armed Violence.
People often associate U.S. military assistance with heavy hardware such as armored fighting vehicles, anti-tank weapons and attack helicopters.... (GunPolicy.org)
Australia,Afghanistan,Russia,Central Asia,Pakistan,China,Turkey,Brazil
UN Rule of Thumb Suggests 600,000 Illegal Guns in Australia
21 October 2016
Age (Melbourne)
As many as 600,000 illegal guns could be circulating in the Australian underworld, but national efforts to control the spread is being hampered by inconsistencies between states, a firearms intelligence report has found.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission report on guns - to be released on Friday, the same day as state and federal government representatives meet to thrash out a way to combat illegal firearms - also backs a national amnesty.
Chris Dawson,... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Afghanistan,Iraq
US Lost Hundreds of Thousands of Guns In Iraq, Afghanistan
24 August 2016
New York Times
Early this year, a Facebook user in Baghdad using the name Hussein Mahyawi posted a photograph of a slightly worn M4 assault rifle he was offering for sale. Veterans of the latest war in Iraq immediately recognized it. It was a standard American carbine equipped with a holographic sight, a foregrip that was military-issue during the occupation and a sticker bearing a digital QR code used by American forces for inventory control. Except for one detail — an aftermarket... (GunPolicy.org)
Saudi Arabia,Afghanistan,Bulgaria,Italy,Syria,Czech Republic,Iran,Libya,Yemen,United Kingdom,Ukraine,United States,South Sudan,France
World Powers Accused of Violating Arms Trade Treaty [ES]
23 August 2016
IPS Noticias
[Translated summary: Human Rights organisations and military analysts accuse the United States, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France and Italy of violating the Arms Trade Treaty by selling to countries in conflict. Experts say that effectively implementing the treaty could save millions of lives.]
NACIONES UNIDAS - Los grandes proveedores de armamento violan el tratado que regula su comercio y que se propone frenar el flujo de armas pequeñas y ligeras hacia las zonas de... (GunPolicy.org)
Lost in Afghanistan: 465,000 Small Arms - US Can't Track Weapons it Sends
29 July 2014
Miami Herald / McClatchy
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has shipped Afghan security forces tens of thousands of excessive AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons since 2004 and many have gone missing, raising concerns that they've fallen into the hands of Taliban or other insurgent rebels.
John F. Sopko, the U.S. special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, found in a report released Monday that shoddy record-keeping by the Defense Department, the Afghan National Army and the Afghan... (GunPolicy.org)
Europe,European Union,Albania,Macedonia,Bosnia & Herzegovina,Iraq,North Africa,Afghanistan,Serbia,Croatia
Chasing Exports, Balkan Countries Foster Gun, Ammunition Industries
24 February 2014
Southeast European Times
Balkan countries are taking measures to support domestic military firms in an effort to improve their economies and develop closer relations with NATO, experts said.
Governments pay more attention to the military industry's economic potential, said Blagoja Markovski, president of the Balkan Security Forum in Skopje.
"It offers extraordinary opportunities to create jobs and help the development of the economy. Individual countries' earnings range from tens of millions... (GunPolicy.org)
Pakistan,South Asia,Afghanistan,United States,Russia
Disturbing Firearms Proliferation in Pakistan
24 February 2014
Daily Times (Lahore)
The proliferation of small arms and light weapons is one of the major security challenges currently faced by South Asia and Pakistan in particular. The trafficking and varied availability of these weapons fuel communal conflict, political instability and pose a threat, not only to security, but also to viable development. According to the Red Cross, one out of every two casualties in a war is a civilian stuck in the crossfire. The easy use and light weight of small... (GunPolicy.org)
Iraq,Syria,Israel,India,Ireland,Togo,Canada,United States,Afghanistan,Côte d'Ivoire,Iran,Sri Lanka,Germany,Russia
Growing Number of Personalised Firearms to Boost Safety Available
30 November 2013
Economist
To help push Soviet forces out of Afghanistan in the 1980s, America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) gave Afghan fighters shoulder-launched Stinger anti-aircraft missiles (pictured). Accurate and easy-to-use, the Stingers caused grievous losses. But after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, the CIA wanted to discourage the use of the leftover missiles. It got hold of some of those circulating on the black market and booby-trapped them, so that anyone who tried to fire one... (GunPolicy.org)
Pakistan's Darra Adam Khel, the Gun Making Capital of the World
18 October 2013
Daily Bhaskar (India)
KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, Pakistan - Darra Adam Khel is a town in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, located between Peshawar and Kohat, very close to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. It is inhabited by Pashtuns of the Afridi clan, the Adam Khel. The town consists of one main street lined with shops, with some alleys and side streets containing workshops. Darra Adam Khel is devoted entirely to the production of ordnance.
Located in between Kohat and... (GunPolicy.org)
Officials Warn Afghans Not to Celebrate Football Win with Gunfire
12 September 2013
Reuters
President Hamid Karzai embraced Afghanistan's victorious football team on Thursday, hours after they united the nation in a rare moment of shared joy, but officials also told jubilant Afghans to stop firing guns into the air in celebration.
The national men's team beat India 2-0 to win the South Asian Football Federation championship in Kathmandu late on Tuesday, Afghanistan's first international football title, sending tens of thousands of joyous Afghans into the... (GunPolicy.org)
Russia,Afghanistan,Israel,Belgium,United States
How Video Games Fund Arms Manufacturers and Sell Guns
31 January 2013
EuroGamer
The American confectionery company Victoria Sweets claims to have invented the candy cigarette. A thin stick of chocolate, wrapped in edible paper and designed to impersonate a roll-up, it debuted in 1915 and soon became the accessory of choice for children keen to play grown-up. Hollywood star, GI Joe, team captain: the sweet gave kids the chance try out one of the vogue props of adulthood.
Within 20 years it was so popular that cigarette companies began to take... (GunPolicy.org)
Czech Republic,Hungary,Côte d'Ivoire,Iran,Guinea,Niger,Russia,South Sudan,China,Uganda,Afghanistan,Nigeria,Kenya,Iraq,Congo (DRC)
Trail of Bullet Casings Leads from Africa's Wars Back to Iran
11 January 2013
New York Times
The first clues appeared in Kenya, Uganda and what is now South Sudan. A British arms researcher surveying ammunition used by government forces and civilian militias in 2006 found Kalashnikov rifle cartridges he had not seen before. The ammunition bore no factory code, suggesting that its manufacturer hoped to avoid detection.
Within two years other researchers were finding identical cartridges circulating through the ethnic violence in Darfur. Similar ammunition then... (GunPolicy.org)
Tajikistan,Afghanistan,Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan Officials Alarmed by Small Arms Proliferation
15 June 2012
Eurasianet.org (EU/Asia)
A spokesman at Kyrgyzstan's Interior Ministry has acknowledged that only about half of the small arms that went missing during the country's 2010 political and ethnic violence have been accounted for. The "huge number" of weapons floating about is "enough to carry out another revolution in the country," believes the chairman of parliament's defense and security committee.
Bishkek's 24.kg news agency reported this week that security forces lost about 1,200 small arms... (GunPolicy.org)
France,United Kingdom,Somalia,Afghanistan,Egypt,Syria,United States,Africa
Excluding Ammunition from Arms Trade Treaty 'Totally Irrational' - Oxfam
30 May 2012
Oxfam International (Oxford), Media release
Excluding ammunition from new international Arms Trade Treaty would be "totally irrational"
Global sales of ammunition are worth more than $4 billion and are growing at a faster rate than trade in guns, yet there is virtually no regulation in place to control where the bullets end up, according to international agency Oxfam, in a new report today.
The report, 'Stop a Bullet, Stop a War,' has been published ahead of this summer's Arms Trade Treaty negotiations in New... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghanistan,Russia,Central Asia,Pakistan,China,Turkey,Brazil
Where Do 20 Million Illegal Guns Come From? Afghanistan, Says Pakistan
17 May 2012
Express Tribune (Pakistan)
KARACHI - There are an estimated 20 million illegal arms in circulation in Pakistan.
This includes serious firepower: law enforcement authorities are increasingly coming under attack from criminals and terrorists armed with heavy weapons such as grenades (including rocket-propelled ones), long-range sniper rifles and machine guns. The volatile situation in Lyari was a case in point, where despite the fact that police were equipped with tank-like armoured personnel... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,France,China,Pakistan,Afghanistan,Sweden
Pakistan a 'Very Gun-friendly Society,' 9 in 10 Owners Unlicensed
30 April 2012
Dawn (Karachi)
On January 25 this year, 32-year-old Waqas, a garment factory employee was hit by a bullet in New Karachi and he died. The bullet was not fired from the gun of a target killer, but by friends of a bridegroom amidst late-night wedding celebrations.
Two children aged 10 and 12, died in Sialkot in a similar incident on February 20, when the jubilant brother of a bridegroom unleashed a burst of bullets.
Such accidents, almost an every-day affair in Pakistan, never make it... (GunPolicy.org)
Ethiopia,South Africa,Burkina Faso,Sierra Leone,West Africa,Ukraine,Côte d'Ivoire,Eastern Europe,Russia,Central African Republic,Iraq,Afghanistan,United States,Colombia,Angola,Liberia,North Africa,West Asia,Africa
Shadowy 'Merchants of Death' Behind Africa's Illegal Gun-Running
11 April 2012
Think Africa Press (London)
Arms dealer Viktor Bout was sentenced to 25 years by a US federal court last week.
Widely known as the 'merchant of death', the 45-year-old Russian has delivered weapons and arms to a wide range of presidents, insurgents and rebels in Africa and the Middle East including the likes of Charles Taylor in Liberia and Jonas Savimbi in Angola. He was caught in a US sting in which his services were solicited for the supply of weapons to Colombia's FARC rebels.
His companies... (GunPolicy.org)
Central Asia,United States,Afghanistan,India
US Gets India to Train 30,000 Afghan Soldiers, Give Them Assault Rifles
3 December 2011
National (Abu Dhabi)
NEW DELHI - India plans to fly 20,000 to 30,000 Afghan troops to training bases in India over the next three years and is expanding its presence in Afghanistan as US troops leave.
The US is reportedly eager for more countries to take on part of the US$12 billion (Dh44bn) training bill for the Afghan security forces, and is also running out of time, having set 2014 as the deadline for transferring combat duties to local troops.
With the Afghan government unwilling to... (GunPolicy.org)
Iraq,Afghanistan,United States
Conspiracists Chatter as Secretive US Company Buys Up Gun, Ammo Makers
26 November 2011
New York Times
SCARBOROUGH, Me. - Lined up in a gun rack beneath mounted deer heads is a Bushmaster Carbon 15, a matte-black semiautomatic rifle that looks as if it belongs to a SWAT team. On another rack rests a Teflon-coated Prairie Panther from DPMS Firearms, a supplier to the United States Border Patrol and security agencies in Iraq. On a third is a Remington 750 Woodsmaster, a popular hunting rifle.
The variety of rifles and shotguns on sale here at Cabela's, the national... (GunPolicy.org)
India,Afghanistan,Iraq,Sierra Leone,South Africa,Saudi Arabia,United States,United Kingdom,Oceania,Europe,Asia,Americas,Africa
'The Shadow World', an Incisive Exposé of the ArmsTrade - Book Review
1 November 2011
Telegraph (UK), Book review
If there is one book unlikely to appear on the Christmas reading lists of the former defence secretary Liam Fox and his self-professed adviser Adam Werritty, one suspects that this is it. The sorry case of Dr Fox and the mystery chum-cum-lobbyist amplifies what critics of the defence procurement industry – Feinstein prefers the racier "global arms trade" – have long argued. To put it mildly, and in a nutshell, it is not known for its transparency. Nor, for that... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Groups Want Some Guns Banned Before Registry Is Scrapped
23 October 2011
Vancouver Sun (British Columbia)
After finishing a rotation through Afghanistan with the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, 22-year-old Dan Styles is back in Canada, safe and sound with his young family.
When he's not caring for his one-year-old baby daughter, Styles now spends a lot of his personal time at the shooting range near his home at CFB Petawawa, in eastern Ontario. There, he hones the skills he relied on in the field.
"It's practice, practice, practice," he says. "The better you get at it,... (GunPolicy.org)
Australia Govt Approves $8 Million for Thales to Design New Army Rifle
14 October 2011
Canberra Times (Australia)
The Government has approved $8million for Thales to develop a prototype for a better rifle for the Army.
Defence Materiel Minister Jason Clare said the work would be carried out at Lithgow's Soldier Systems Centre - once known as the Lithgow Small Arms Factory.
The prototype would have better balance, weigh less and include an integrated grenade launcher.
It would retain the Austeyr's most controversial characteristic, its 5.56mm (.223 inch) calibre. The smaller... (GunPolicy.org)
Kyrgyzstan,Czech Republic,Pakistan,Afghanistan,Central Asia,Russia,Uzbekistan,China,Kazakhstan,European Union,United States,Colombia,Iran
Smuggling of Small Arms in Central Asia Is Endemic - British Expert
2 August 2011
Journal of Turkish Weekly (Turkey), Transcript
British intelligence analyst and journalist Richard M. Bennett says the Fergana Valley is extremely vulnerable to the covert smuggling of arms and drugs, despite the official reports of Central Asian governments denying its highlighted status. Mr. Bennett told JTW that Russia has been responsible for an overwhelming amount of illegal arms circulating in ex-Soviet Central Asia. In his view, Russia's military intelligence (GRU) is the mastermind of major trafficking... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Norway,United Kingdom,Africa,Afghanistan,Mexico
Gun Trade Inevitably Leads to the Sort of Atrocity Inflicted on Norway
31 July 2011
Independent (UK), Opinion
In discussion of the atrocity in Norway last week, there is one subject which has been notable by the almost total silence about it: guns. In response to recurring massacres in American high schools and British villages, in response to footage from Africa and Afghanistan showing ragged, untrained young men brandishing automatic small arms, in response to a man coolly murdering dozens of youngsters in an hour-and-a-half, funfair-like shooting spree on a Norwegian island,... (GunPolicy.org)
Kyrgyzstan,Afghanistan,Tajikistan
Kyrgyzstan Still Awash with Firearms, Guns Feature in Political Struggles
9 June 2011
Eurasianet.org (European Union - Asia) / Eagle-Tribune (Massachusetts)
One year after ethnic violence rocked southern Kyrgyzstan, leaving over 400 dead, gunshot wounds have been established as the main cause of death. Activists believe the country is still awash with firearms, and security experts say weapons are likely to keep featuring in domestic political struggles, especially as officials seek support from gun-toting associates or even arm themselves.
During the violent overthrow of Kurmanbek Bakiyev in April 2010, protestors seized... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Eurasianet.org (European Union - Asia) / Eagle-Tribune (Massachusetts)
Iraq,Afghanistan,United States
The Right to Bear Arms Guaranteed for US Military Troops?
27 May 2011
Wall Street Journal, Blog
Tucked away in the fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill that the House passed Thursday is a curious provision: an amendment that would ensure that troops deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq have the "right to bear arms."
You read that correctly. The House voted 260 to 160 to approve an amendment to the bill that would revise the military's "rules of engagement" to ensure troops in conflict zones can defend themselves.
Seem a bit redundant? Rep. John Mica (R., Fla.), who... (GunPolicy.org)
Peru,Guatemala,Afghanistan,Argentina,Venezuela,Brazil,South America
Survey: South American Security Firms Carry More Guns Than Elsewhere
29 March 2011
United Press International
RIO DE JANEIRO - Private security firms in Latin America are the most armed with the largest weapons arsenals in that category of security industry companies worldwide, a new survey report said.
An added problem was that many of the weapons carried by employees of private security firms weren't registered under companies' names.
Instead, the weapons had private registrations that made the task of evaluating the firms' arsenals more difficult, said an advance research... (GunPolicy.org)
Iraq,Indonesia,Serbia,Jordan,Afghanistan
Serbian Weapon Maker Foresees 30% Rise in Sniper Rifle Exports
12 January 2011
Bloomberg (USA)
Zastava Oruzje, a Serbian weapons maker, made $17 million of sales abroad in 2010 and expects the figure to rise 30 percent this year as a result of contracts to sell sniper rifles to Jordan and Indonesia, Blic reported, citing General Manager Rade Gromovic.
The maker of handguns, military and hunting rifles also plans to continue supplying the Iraqi and Afghan armies until at least 2014, the newspaper... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghanistan,Albania,China,United States
US Gun Dealer Gets 4yrs for $300 Million Pentagon Afghan Ammo Fraud
3 January 2011
Associated Press
MIAMI - A youthful arms dealer whose company once boasted a $300 million Pentagon munitions contract was sentenced Monday to four years in federal prison for trying to ship millions of rounds of prohibited Chinese-made ammunition to Afghan forces fighting alongside U.S. troops.
U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard imposed the sentence on 25-year-old Efraim Diveroli, who faced a maximum of five years behind bars after pleading guilty in 2009 to a fraud conspiracy charge.... (GunPolicy.org)
US Army Unveils 'Revolutionary' Exploding-ammo Rifle in Afghanistan
28 November 2010
Fox News (USA)
Since the dawn of modern warfare, the best way to stay alive in the face of incoming fire has been to take cover behind a wall. But thanks to a game-changing "revolutionary" rifle, the U.S. Army has made that tactic dead on arrival. Now the enemy can run, but he can't hide.
After years of development, the U.S. Army has unleashed a new weapon in Afghanistan -- the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System, a high-tech rifle that can be programmed so that its 25-mm.... (GunPolicy.org)
Russia Once Again Airlifts Planeloads of Assault Weapons to Afghanistan
9 November 2010
Voice of Russia (Moscow)
Power structures in any country should be well-armed: otherwise, what we are talking about can't be called power structures. This rule is of great importance for all countries, including Afghanistan in the first place. And still, till recently the power structures in Afghanistan were practically unarmed. Now the situation has begun changing – among other things, thanks to supplies from Russia.
The transport planes of the Russian Interior Ministry have begun... (GunPolicy.org)
Iraq,Afghanistan,United States
Ex-Marines Arrested for Selling Assault Weapons to Los Angeles Gang
9 November 2010
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Federal agents have arrested three retired Marines suspected of selling illegal assault weapons to a notorious Los Angeles street gang, authorities said Tuesday.
The suspected ringleader, Adam Gitschlag, who served in Iraq and was once based at Camp Pendleton, was arrested at his Orange County home Nov. 2 as part of an operation carried out by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as military investigators and local police.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
Machine Guns Smuggled from Afghanistan Sold to Feds by US Navy SEAL
4 November 2010
United Press International
LAS VEGAS - A U.S. Navy SEAL and two others were arrested for allegedly selling smuggled machine guns to undercover agents, court papers filed in Las Vegas said Thursday.
The suspects were arrested after a five-month investigation and were to appear before a Las Vegas federal judge, KLAS-TV, Las Vegas, reported.
The weapons allegedly were brought into the United States from Afghanistan and Iraq and sold to undercover agents in Nevada and Colorado. No additional... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghanistan,Iraq,United States
Blackwater President, Execs Indicted on 'Scofflaw' Machine Gun Charges
21 April 2010
Associated Press
RALEIGH, North Carolina - Federal prosecutors launched a scathing assessment of Blackwater Worldwide's former president Wednesday, declaring in an initial court appearance that he operated the security firm with "sheer arrogance" and a "scofflaw attitude."
Gary Jackson and four past colleagues indicted last week appeared Wednesday morning before a judge who allowed them to go free as they await trial. A magistrate judge denied a government request to place a bond on... (GunPolicy.org)
Iraq,Afghanistan,United States
US Rifle Sights Inscribed with 'Bible Codes' for War in Afghanistan
22 January 2010
al Jazeera
US-made rifles inscribed with Bible codes are being used by US forces and Afghans to fight the Taliban.
The weapons come from Trijicon, a manufacturer based in Wixom, Michigan, that supplies the US military. The company's now deceased founder, Glyn Bandon, started the practice which continues today.
David Chater, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Afghan capital Kabul, said: "It is a rallying cry for the Taliban. It gives them a propaganda tool.
"They've always tried... (GunPolicy.org)
Iraq,Iran,Afghanistan,United States
Michigan Firm to Remove 'Bible Code' from Weapon Sold to Kill Muslims
21 January 2010
New York Times
Bowing to Pentagon concerns and an international outcry, a Michigan arms company said Thursday that it would immediately stop embossing references to New Testament Scriptures on rifle sights it sells the military.
The company, Trijicon Inc., has multimillion-dollar contracts with the Pentagon for advanced telescopic sights that are widely used in Iraq and Afghanistan. Trijicon also said it would provide the Pentagon with 100 free kits to use for removing the lettering... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghan Man Guns Down 16 Family Members Over Property Dispute
27 September 2009
Xinhua
KABUL — In a rare incident, a man in Ghazni province south of Afghanistan shot dead 16 members of his family and self over property dispute, provincial police chief said Sunday.
"Mohammad Zaman, son of Qari Abdul Hakim, sprayed bullets and killed 16 members of his family including his father and later shot himself dead Saturday night," Khialbaz Shirzoi told Xinhua.
Only his mother and his child who were not present at the site of the bloody incident have escaped,... (GunPolicy.org)
Pakistan,United States,Afghanistan
Flood of Stolen US Assault Rifles, Handguns Arms Taliban in Pakistan
9 September 2009
Islam Online (Qatar)
PESHAWAR — Sophisticated US-made arms, either snatched from foreign troops in neighboring Afghanistan, or sold out by cash-strapped Afghan soldiers, have flooded the arms markets in Pakistan's northern tribal belt and are in high demand too.
"We have various kinds of US-made arms, which we procure from Afghan arms smugglers," an arms dealer from the town of Darra Adamkhel in Pakistan's western frontier province (NWFP) told IslamOnline.net.
Darra Adamkhel, virtually... (GunPolicy.org)
$600 for a Kalashnikov: A Sign of Bloodshed to Come in Afghanistan
2 September 2009
Independent (UK)
KABUL — The price of Kalashnikovs has doubled in Afghanistan. For a country awash with arms, the fact that the weapons are now fetching $600 apiece is a cause of some surprise, but a surge of demand is to blame for the increase, with a steady stream of weapons said to be heading for the north.
This is the Tajik constituency of Abdullah Abdullah, the presidential candidate who claims the election is being stolen by the incumbent Western-backed President, Hamid... (GunPolicy.org)
Taliban Moving from AK-47 to AK-74 to Penetrate NATO Body Armour?
2 September 2009
Wired (USA), Web page
One way of finding out what sort of weapons the Taliban favor is to go the usual military route: examine captured arsenals and look for shell casings after a firefight. Or you could just go and talk to the man who apparently sells them their weapons, as Guardian reporter Ghaith Abdul-Ahad recently did. The results were highly instructive.
Abdul-Ahab talked to a man named Hekmat, formerly a shopkeeper but now a wealthy smuggler. Hekmat made his fortune ferrying arms... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Runners, Drug Traffickers Continue to Fuel War in Afghanistan
18 August 2009
Guardian (UK)
Hekmat the smuggler and I sat among a group of men in a wood-walled hotel room in Ishkashim, a town in Badakh-shan province in the far north of Afghanistan.
The room's balcony took in a breathtaking view of the river Amu, which shimmered in the sunlight beneath the Pamir mountains.
The Amu, also known as the Oxus, is the greatest river in central Asia, and for several hundred miles its upper reaches mark the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan to the... (GunPolicy.org)
British Troops Fire 12 Million Bullets in Three Years in Afghanistan
10 August 2009
Telegraph (UK)
Ammunition is being discharged at a rate of more than 12,000 rounds every day, illustrating the severity of the fighting in which British forces are engaged
The Ministry of Defence figures emerged as it was announced that another British soldier has been killed in Afghanistan, bringing the country's death toll there to 196.
The solider, from 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment, died in an explosive attack on his patrol near Gereshk in Helmand province.
When British... (GunPolicy.org)
United Kingdom,Europe,Iraq,Afghanistan
British Troops Smuggle Guns from Iraq, Afghanistan to Europe, UK
3 August 2009
Birmingham Post (UK)
British troops are smuggling guns and drugs into the UK and Europe and selling them on to criminal gangs, a former soldier from the Midlands has claimed.
The ex-serviceman said it was "megaeasy" to bring back weapons from Iraq and Afghanistan and said some soldiers had become adept at hiding weapons and shipping them back from the frontline.
Handguns are brought back inside field radios and tool boxes — while grenades are hidden inside tank gun barrels for... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghan Security Guards Secretly Armed with Canadian Assault Rifles
17 June 2009
Canadian Press
OTTAWA — Canada's military secretly armed Afghan civilians hired as security guards at a forward operating base in Afghanistan, federal documents show.
The unidentified "guard force" was also provided with uniforms so they would not be "mistaken for Canadian soldiers or for that matter members of the Afghan National Army," says a briefing note obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
All Canadian bases in southern Afghanistan have some... (GunPolicy.org)
Serbia,Iraq,Afghanistan,United States
Record Assault Weapon Exports from Serbia Fuel US, Iraq, Afghan Wars
4 June 2009
BBC Worldwide Monitoring / Blic Daily
Last year Serbia's export of weapons and military equipment reached a record high at 400m euros, with 236m dollars for Iraq. This year export deals are worth more than 500m euros. Five out of six factories of the military industry have sold out their capacities completely for this year.
Zastava Arms alone plans to export 30m dollars in 2009, which is 30 per cent more than this year. Manager Rade Gromovic told Blic that the factory would achieve the biggest foreign... (GunPolicy.org)
Pakistan,Afghanistan,United States
Guns Supplied by US, Smuggled to Pakistan More Deadly Than Nukes
31 May 2009
News International (Karachi), Editorial
The deconstruction of a briefing given by Major General Athar Abbas and its subsequent reporting in the media bears close study. The briefing was interesting in that for the first time it made reference to four tunnels constructed by the Taliban in Peochar, and the contents thereof. The Taliban have been busy looting not just the UN convoys but goods intended for the relief of IDPs as well. They had also collected pre-packed military rations (which are unlikely to be... (GunPolicy.org)
US Contractors say Blackwater Supplied Guns Forbidden in Afghanistan
21 May 2009
Associated Press
RALEIGH, North Carolina — The security firm formerly known as Blackwater armed some of its workers in Afghanistan despite U.S. military documents that prohibited them from carrying guns, said two former contractors who were fired after they were involved in a fatal shooting in the country.
Justin Cannon and Steven McClain said Thursday that they frequently asked superiors why the company distributed the AK-47 assault rifles without Department of Defense... (GunPolicy.org)
US Contractors Held in Afghanistan After Fatal Shooting, Gun Law Breach
20 May 2009
Associated Press
KABUL — Four U.S. contractors for the company formerly known as Blackwater were not authorized to carry weapons when they were involved in a deadly shooting in Afghanistan this month, the U.S. military said Tuesday.
The men — accused of opening fire on a vehicle in the capital on May 5 — have charged that their employer, now called Xe, issued them guns in breech of the company's contract with the military. One Afghan was killed in the shooting, and two others... (GunPolicy.org)
Guns, Ammunition Sent by US Seem to Be Falling Into Taliban Hands
20 May 2009
New York Times
KABUL — Insurgents in Afghanistan, fighting from some of the poorest and most remote regions on earth, have managed for years to maintain an intensive guerrilla war against materially superior American and Afghan forces.
Arms and ordnance collected from dead insurgents hint at one possible reason: Of 30 rifle magazines recently taken from insurgents' corpses, at least 17 contained cartridges, or rounds, identical to ammunition the United States had provided to... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghanistan,United States,Croatia
US Buys Another 19,000 Croatian AK-47s Said Destined for Afghanistan
5 April 2009
Javno.com / Vecerni List (Zagreb)
ZAGREB — Croatia is selling 19,000 AK-47 assault rifles to the United States. The deal has been made, only the price has not been set yet, the Vecernji list daily reported.
It is estimated that the price of the weapons could be at least two billion euros, depending on the state of the rifle and the probably lower price due to good partnership relations between Croatia and the United States.
The American reasons for making this deal are two: the lower price and the... (GunPolicy.org)
Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan Arming Village Vigilantes with Flood of Guns
4 March 2009
Christian Science Monitor
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — In the town of Budaber, six miles from Peshawar's city center, Daud Khan makes sure his Kalashnikov is loaded before stepping into the dark street. As he walks out, seven young men join him, all armed.
Mr. Khan is a member of the nighttime civilian patrols that guard the streets and escort residents home. They usually work from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., the peak time for bomb attacks, a local says.
Do-it-yourself security teams are becoming a fixture in... (GunPolicy.org)
Pakistan Fuels Afghan Border Conflict, Gives 30,000 More Guns to Civilians
23 February 2009
Associated Press
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Authorities in a Pakistani border province plan to arm villagers with 30,000 rifles and set up an elite police unit to protect a region increasingly besieged by Taliban and al Qaeda militants, an official said Sunday.
Stiffer action in the North West Frontier Province could help offset American concern that a peace deal being negotiated in the Swat valley, a Taliban stronghold in the province, could create a haven for Islamist insurgents only... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Afghanistan,Albania
21yr-old US Gun Dealer Got $300m Pentagon Arms Contract, Handcuffs
18 February 2009
Details / GQ (USA)
On the afternoon of May 16, 2007, an Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane rumbled down the tarmac at Burgas Airport in eastern Bulgaria, its hold packed with 110,000 grenades bound for Kabul, Afghanistan. The aircraft lifted off, climbed above the rolling farmlands to the west and the Black Sea to the east, and headed toward war.
Half a world away, on the first floor of a sun-dappled office building amid the palm trees of Miami Beach, Florida, a 21-year-old high-school dropout... (GunPolicy.org)
CNN's Wolf Blitzer 'Wow' Story: US Loses 87,000 Weapons in Afghan War
12 February 2009
CNN / Situation Room, Transcript
WOLF BLITZER: Apparently, the United States military has lost track of thousands of weapons in Afghanistan — weapons that potentially could be in the hands of Taliban forces or al Qaeda.
Let's go to our Pentagon correspondent, Chris Lawrence. He's working this story for us. Wow, Chris, what's going on?
CHRIS LAWRENCE: Well, Wolf, it's more than thousands — tens of thousands of American weapons are missing and they may now be in the hands of the Taliban or al... (GunPolicy.org)
One-third of US Guns Issued in Afghanistan Now 'Missing,' Say Officials
12 February 2009
CNN
WASHINGTON — More than one-third of all weapons the United States has procured for Afghanistan's government are missing, according to a government report released Thursday.
The U.S. military failed to "maintain complete inventory records for an estimated 87,000 weapons — or about 36 percent — of the 242,000 weapons that the United States procured and shipped to Afghanistan from December 2004 through June 2008," a U.S. Government Accountability Office report... (GunPolicy.org)
377,000 'Lost' Military Weapons Could Leak to Taliban, Says US GAO
12 February 2009
Washington Post
Tens of thousands of assault rifles and other firearms in Afghanistan are at risk of being stolen because U.S. officials have lost track of them, according to a congressionally ordered audit that warns that some weapons may already be in Taliban hands.
The audit by the Government Accountability Office found that inventory controls were lacking for more than a third of the 242,000 light weapons donated to Afghan forces by the United States — a stockpile that includes... (GunPolicy.org)
Third-of-a-Million Military Weapons 'At Serious Risk of Theft' by Taliban
11 February 2009
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The U.S. has been shoveling weapons into the hands of Afghan troops but doesn't have a firm system in place or enough personnel to ensure they don't wind up in the hands of Taliban fighters, according to an independent study.
The report, obtained by The Associated Press, comes as Kabul recovers from a devastating attack Wednesday by heavily armed militants. The fighters stormed three government buildings of the heavily fortified capital, killing 20... (GunPolicy.org)
Despite Years of Bad Results, US Pours More AK-47s Into Afghan Villages
4 February 2009
Associated Press
MAIDAN SHAHR, Afghanistan — A U.S.-backed plan to create militias and give them guns to fight the Taliban is drawing criticism from local authorities in areas where the first units are being rolled out, raising questions as to whether the effort can succeed in Afghanistan.
The militias have been compared to the U.S.-fostered Awakening Councils in Iraq, which have often been credited with reducing violence there, and are similar to neighboring Pakistan's tribal armies... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Albania,Afghanistan,China,Iraq
US Repays Millions to Indicted Miami-Albania-Iraq-China Ammo Dealer
3 February 2009
New Times (Florida)
On March 15, 2008, a fireball shot into the midday sky over Albania's capital of Tirana. The blast echoed 100 miles away in Macedonia and Kosovo. Its force was comparable to that of a small nuclear weapon. But this wasn't atomic. It was an accident at an arms depot, where poor villagers had been hired to handle old ammunition and artillery shells. The explosion killed up to 26 people and injured hundreds. The village of Gerdec was obliterated.
Three men were arrested... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Afghanistan,China
US Govt Refunds Millions to Ammunition Dealer Charged with Fraud
26 January 2009
Miami Herald
A Miami Beach munitions dealer accused of defrauding the federal government is $4.2 million richer.
Actually, the money already belonged to 23-year-old Efraim Diveroli. But the government froze it after Diveroli, his business, AEY Inc., and three co-workers were indicted last summer on charges of selling banned Chinese-made machine-gun rounds to the U.S. Army to supply allied forces in Afghanistan.
Prosecutors recently agreed to unfreeze the money — as well as... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghans Rediscover the Lee-Enfield
22 January 2009
Strategy Page (USA), Web Page
Afghan traditionalists are changing the way the Taliban fight. This can be seen by the increase in the use of sniping by the Taliban. In the last year, NATO units in southern Afghanistan estimate there has been a 25 percent increase in sniping incidents. This is not seen as a major danger. NATO troops wear protective bests and helmets that can stop bullets fired at long range, making it very frustrating for the Taliban shooters trying to hit a distant target in a... (GunPolicy.org)
Kabul Daily Urges Afghan Government Not to Distribute Guns to Civilians
6 January 2009
Daily Afghanistan (Kabul), Editorial
A source in the Defence Ministry has been quoted as saying that the national army will be equipped with light and modern US weapons.
Officers of the ministry have reported that soldiers of Army Corps No 205 of Kandahar have been equipped with M-16 weapons, and other army corps of the National Defence Ministry will reportedly be equipped with similar weapons in the near future.
Speaking in this respect, the Defence Ministry spokesman also says that the commando... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghanistan,Iraq,Russia,Bulgaria
Bulgaria, 7 Other Nations Make 'Unlicensed, Illegal' AK-47s, Export to Iraq
20 November 2008
FOCUS News Agency (Bulgaria) / Praim-TASS
MOSCOW — 7-8 countries in the world are currently dealing with unlicensed production of machine guns "Kalashnikov", Nikolay Dimidyuk from Rosoboronexport said, cited by Praim-TASS.
According to his evaluation there was a total nuisance in the world regarding the production of 'false' Kalashnikov guns, in particular in Bulgaria.
'I will not mention other countries, so as not to offend them. The Americans allowed Bulgaria to build a factory for the production of... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghanistan,Iran,Pakistan,Russia
Wide Range of Guns, Weapons Readily Accessible to Taleban Fighters
18 September 2008
BBC News
AFGHANISTAN — "We sometimes seize arms and ammunition," said a Taleban commander in south-eastern Afghanistan. "We're using whatever weapons are left over from Russian times and we buy from different sources — Pakistan, Iran, Russia — wherever we can get them."
I met the Taleban commander, a veteran of 30 years of war, in a safe house — one of the typical mud-built, fortress-like houses of the south-east where a six-metre (six-yard) high wall protects an... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,United Kingdom,Italy,Afghanistan,Iraq
Lax Management by US, UK, Italy Armed al-Qaida, Says Amnesty Report
17 September 2008
Middle East Times (Cairo) / UPI
WASHINGTON — Weak oversight of arms deals by the United States, England and Italy resulted in the illicit arming of al-Qaida, a new report by Amnesty International says.
The international non-governmental organization says that despite new measures implemented to regulate arms deals, thousands of weapons have ended up in the hands of al-Qaida militants operating in Iraq, Amnesty International reported.
The report, titled "Blood at the Crossroads: Making the Case for... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Afghanistan,China,Albania
Miami Gun Dealer, 21, Caught in US$300 Million Pentagon Ammo Scam
16 August 2008
New Zealand Herald
When historians assess the Bush Administration's scandals, there is one that — even by the era's exacting standards — will amaze with its sheer chutzpah. The figure in the spotlight is Efraim Diveroli, 22. His Miami-Dade Police Department mug shot depicts a rather dazed, tussle-haired youth who looks like he might have spent a night clubbing.
Instead, as the beneficiary of a US$298 million ($426 million) United States Army contract, Diveroli, president of Miami... (GunPolicy.org)
Guns Threaten Development, Gender Equity, Security in Afghanistan
25 July 2008
IRIN (UN News), Web Page
The worsening security situation in Afghanistan is reducing the ability of humanitarian agencies to deliver life-saving assistance to vulnerable communities, according to a report by IRIN. Some 1.5 million people need urgent humanitarian assistance to respond to a severe drought. The French agency Action Contre la Faim (ACF) suspended operations in Afghanistan after 2 staff were kidnapped on 18 July. ACF has 250 staff in the country, and delivered assistance to 35,000... (GunPolicy.org)
Iraq,Afghanistan,United Nations,Bosnia & Herzegovina,Albania,Serbia
Iraq, Afghan Wars, Exports from Bosnia, Albania Hurt Bid to Destroy Guns
15 July 2008
Agence France Presse
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.
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 encouraged to export them, the Small Arms Survey 2008... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Afghanistan,Albania
Pentagon's Afghan Army Ammo Sale Fraud Takes Political Twist in Congress
14 July 2008
Los Angeles Times
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 abuses in years.
The case... (GunPolicy.org)
United Nations,Iraq,Colombia,Afghanistan
Civilians Alone 'Lose' 650,000 Guns Each Year, Says Study Released at UN
14 July 2008
Reuters
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 or sold on the black market —... (GunPolicy.org)
Central Asia's Guns-for-drugs Trade Helps Arm Insurgents Worldwide
7 July 2008
Rome News-Tribune (Georgia) / McClatchy-Tribune News Service
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 two countries.
And flourish it has:... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Rome News-Tribune (Georgia) / McClatchy-Tribune News Service
US Army's $300m Ammo Deal 'Case Study' in Botched Military Contracting
25 June 2008
New York Times
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 poor quality or late deliveries.
But... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Albania,Afghanistan
US Ambassador to Albania Targeted in Illegal Afghan Ammunition Probe
24 June 2008
Reuters
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 Committee on Oversight and Government... (GunPolicy.org)
Miami Gun Dealer Charged with Selling Chinese Ammo to Pentagon
21 June 2008
New York Times
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 to misrepresent the types of... (GunPolicy.org)
Pakistani Gun Control Groups Target US, Afghanistan for Weapon Flood
10 June 2008
News (Karachi)
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 (Camp) and International Action... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Afghanistan,Iraq,Albania
Inferior Ammunition to Afghanistan Leads US Army to Review Arms Policy
27 April 2008
New York Times
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 were Hungarian.
The Army decided to... (GunPolicy.org)
United Kingdom,Iraq,Afghanistan,Europe
Guns 'Commonly' Smuggled in UK Army Vehicles Crossing Europe from Iraq
25 April 2008
BBC News
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 guns were used in crimes in the UK.
The two soldiers... (GunPolicy.org)
Coalition 'Error' Delivered Machine Guns, Assault Weapons to Taliban Leader
13 April 2008
Associated Press
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" intended to place weapons, ammunition and food... (GunPolicy.org)
Slovakia,United States,Afghanistan,Albania,Bulgaria,Romania,Czech Republic,Hungary
Slovakia Sold Ammunition to Miami Gun Dealer, Pentagon for Afghan War
8 April 2008
BBC Worldwide Monitoring / SME (Bratislava), Transcript
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 to the munitions and under what... (GunPolicy.org)
Albania,Afghanistan,United States
US Congress Afghan Guns Inquiry Pins Albanian PM in Corruption Probe
4 April 2008
Balkan Insight (Sarajevo)
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 vice-president David Packouz, who is also a... (GunPolicy.org)
$298m Pentagon Deal: 'Fraudulent' Licensed Gun Dealer's Exports Blocked
4 April 2008
New York Times
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 they were made in Hungary. The... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed US Gun Dealer Given 'Disadvantaged' Status in $300m Arms Deal
3 April 2008
Government Executive (USA)
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, AEY has earned more than $204 million... (GunPolicy.org)
Pentagon Promised $300m for 'Barely Legal' Gun Dealer's Corroded Ammo
3 April 2008
Taxpayer.net (USA) Vol. XIII No. 14, Web Page
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 the explosion in "war on terror"... (GunPolicy.org)
Pentagon, Miami Beach Party Boy/Gun Dealer in $300m Afghan Ammo Deal
30 March 2008
Miami Herald / Knight-Ridder
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 course, Miami Beach.
Shadowy Efraim... (GunPolicy.org)
US Grants 22yr-old Miami Gun Dealer His $300 Million 'Hallucinatory Dream'
30 March 2008
Miami Herald / Knight-Ridder
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 bid. And by 2007, the U.S. Army —... (GunPolicy.org)
US Congress Probes Miami Gun Dealer Over Suspect $200m Ammo Deal
28 March 2008
CNN
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 U.S. government since 2004.
The papers also... (GunPolicy.org)
22yr-old Miami Gun Dealer Had $200m US Army Deal for Afghan War Ammo
28 March 2008
Associated Press
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 army as part of that work.
Diveroli's... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Afghanistan,Iraq,China
US Army Accuses Miami Gun Dealer of Fraud in $200m Afghan Ammo Deal
28 March 2008
New York Times
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' memorandum.
Acting on a tip,... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Afghanistan,China
US Suspends Miami 22yr-old in $200m China-Afghan Guns, Ammo Ripoff
28 March 2008
CNN
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 hearing will examine the company's financial... (GunPolicy.org)
Albania,Afghanistan,United States
US/Afghan Ammunition, Gun Trafficking Scandal Implicates Albanian PM
27 March 2008
Balkan Insight (Sarajevo)
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," Ndre Legisi, a deputy from the opposition... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Afghanistan,China,Albania,Iraq
US Offers 22yr-old Miami Man $300m for Old, Often Dud Afghan War Ammo
27 March 2008
New York Times
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 last January of a federal contract worth as... (GunPolicy.org)
Germany,United States,Iraq,Afghanistan
German Gun Maker H&K Dumps 'Unique Partnership' with Blackwater USA
19 February 2008
Deutsche Welle (Germany)
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 "Report Mainz" program reported... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghan Police Crackdown Strips Private Security Firms of Unlicensed Guns
10 February 2008
Times (UK)
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 French citizen and a Nepalese former... (GunPolicy.org)
American Soldiers Strip, Rebuild AK-47s for Afghan Military, Police
6 January 2008
State (South Carolina)
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 depot with a team of technicians that supervises the... (GunPolicy.org)
Taliban Resurgence Pushes Up Gun Prices in Pakistan's Darra Adam Khel
2 November 2007
Daily Times (Lahore)
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 told Daily Times on condition of anonymity... (GunPolicy.org)
Amid Fears of a Taliban Resurgence, Militias, Afghani Civilians Hoard Guns
28 October 2007
New York Times
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 in the north have arisen recently... (GunPolicy.org)
Serbia,Iraq,Afghanistan,United Nations
Serbian Gun Runner Shipped Tons of Guns, Ammunition to Various Conflicts
7 October 2007
New York Times
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 make hazardous trips by land.... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Control in Afghanistan: UN/US-led Effort to Retrieve 10 Million Weapons
6 September 2007
Ottawa Citizen (Ontario), Opinion
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 Chinese arms were recovered from... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Iraq,Afghanistan,Kuwait
US Auditors Sent to Iraq and Afghanistan to Trace Missing Guns, Corruption
28 August 2007
USA Today / AP
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 M. Kicklighter are already in Iraq and... (GunPolicy.org)
Montenegro,Afghanistan,Croatia,Albania,Bosnia & Herzegovina
Montenegro, Other Balkan Nations Donate Guns, Ammunition to Afghanistan
23 August 2007
SEESAC (Belgrade) / South East European Times, Transcript
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 parties have questioned the move. The... (GunPolicy.org)
Bosnia & Herzegovina,Afghanistan
NATO/Bosnian Guns Donated to Afghanistan Possibly Leaked to Taliban
14 August 2007
BBC Worldwide Monitoring / Dnevni Avaz (Sarajevo), Transcript
[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 the Amnesty International (AI) report... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: BBC Worldwide Monitoring / Dnevni Avaz (Sarajevo)
Stolen Military Weapons, Afghanistan/US Gun Running in Green Beret Trial
25 March 2007
Miami Herald
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 with the U.S. Army Special Forces and a federal... (GunPolicy.org)
Czech Government Approves Donation of 20,000 Guns to Afghanistan
21 February 2007
BBC Worldwide Monitoring / CTK news (Prague), Transcript
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 the Afghan military. If the Mi-17 and Mi-24... (GunPolicy.org)
US Soldiers Smuggle AK-47s from Afghanistan, Says GI Robbery Suspect
18 December 2006
National Public Radio / All Things Considered (USA)
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 describe as having... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: National Public Radio / All Things Considered (USA)
Bosnia & Herzegovina,Afghanistan,Iraq,United States,United Nations
Bosnia's Leftover Guns: Sell, Give to Iraq or Afghanistan, Destroy?
10 July 2006
Christian Science Monitor
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, but were unable to come up with a... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghanistan: Where the Gun Still Rules
7 June 2006
IRIN (UN News) / Reuters
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 punishment to those that... (GunPolicy.org)
Bosnia & Herzegovina,Serbia,Afghanistan
Bosnian Serbs Want to Donate Surplus Guns to Afghanistan
15 December 2005
BBC Worldwide Monitoring / Nezavisne Novine, Transcript
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.
"These are surplus weapons, which... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghanistan Teaches Foreign 'Gunrunners' a Hard Lesson
7 December 2005
Washington Post / AP
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, and a look into the risks... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghans Jail Britons, Indian for Possessing Guns
7 December 2005
New York Times / Reuters
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 guns.
He said the prosecutor had accused them... (GunPolicy.org)
UK, US, Indian Expats Among Six Arrested in Kabul for Gun Trafficking
11 November 2005
BBC News
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 done anything like that."
Peter Eaton, who was... (GunPolicy.org)
United Nations,Iraq,Afghanistan
Reality Check: The Danger of Small Arms Proliferation
26 September 2005
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (Washington, DC), Journal
While the world focuses on hypothetical consequences from the use of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, another class of weapons is actually killing hundreds of thousands and devastating entire societies every year. These weapons, known as small arms and light weapons (hereafter small arms) are truly weapons of mass destruction. The need to address small arms proliferation and misuse is just as urgent and critical as their nuclear counterparts.
Small arms... (GunPolicy.org)
Read More: Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (Washington, DC)
United States,Iraq,Afghanistan
US Forced to Import Bullets from Israel as Troops Use 250,000 for Every Rebel Killed
26 September 2005
Independent (UK)
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 in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well... (GunPolicy.org)
Over 50,000 Former Afghan Soldiers Have Disarmed, UN Reports
8 May 2005
UN News Service
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 training is a distant second... (GunPolicy.org)
Final Phase in Afghan Disarmament
24 March 2005
BBC News
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 civilian life.
Desire to settle
One of the... (GunPolicy.org)
Too Many Weapons in Private Hands
7 March 2005
IRIN (UN News)
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. He also fought the hardline... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghan Army Soldier Opens Fire in US Base, Killing Five
27 January 2005
Associated Press
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 morning in Helmand province. Another six... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Culture Costs Lives, Including Unintentional Shootings
25 November 2004
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
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 prison in Samangan province. Sharif's family filed... (GunPolicy.org)
Weapon Collection Scheme Puzzles Warlords
27 October 2004
Sydney Morning Herald
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 about 550 warlords and their senior... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghans Hold on to Their Insurance Policy
18 October 2004
Guardian (UK)
KAPISA — 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.
"My brother died after capturing these tanks from the Taliban. My father died fighting the Soviets," he... (GunPolicy.org)
Ukraine,Cuba,Venezuela,Peru,Sierra Leone,Afghanistan,Iraq,Yemen,Pakistan,Malaysia,Sri Lanka
Ukrainian Arms Exports End Up in a Wide Range of Conflict Zones
19 September 2004
Jane's Defence News, Web Page
Ukraine's arms exports last year stood at US$530-550m, an increase on the year before when they were officially recorded at $440m. JID's regional analyst looks at the implications of Kiev's weapons policy.
Ukrainian experts analysing this highly secretive sector of Ukraine's foreign trade believe that the volume of military exports could rise to an annual maximum of $700m. Of course, these figures do not include the large volume of unofficial trade in weapons. Since... (GunPolicy.org)
United Nations,Afghanistan,Iraq,Sudan,Africa,West Asia
Stop the Guns Targeting Aid Workers
11 August 2004
Globe & Mail (Toronto), Opinion
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. Defence Secretary. On Aug. 3, two... (GunPolicy.org)
Disarming of Afghani Militias Behind Schedule
9 July 2004
Institute for War & Peace Reporting
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 the new government in Kabul.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
Where Guns Rule, Disarmament Falls Short
6 June 2004
Los Angeles Times
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 plan, the Disarmament, Demobilization... (GunPolicy.org)
Central Asia,Kyrgyzstan,Afghanistan,Uzbekistan,Kazakhstan,Tajikistan
New Report Shoots Down Assumptions About Arms Proliferation
27 February 2004
Radio Free Europe (Czech Republic)
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 issues such as border control. The... (GunPolicy.org)
Soldier's Shooting is 13th Afghan Gun Mishap
16 February 2004
Canadian Press
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, only two options remain open," said Col.... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghans Trade Guns for Shot at a New Life
23 October 2003
Washington Post
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, demobilize them from their militia units and reintegrate them into civilian life.
At... (GunPolicy.org)
Army Slammed At Inquest Over Lethal Mix of Guns and Alcohol
18 September 2003
Western Mail (Wales)
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 while on peacekeeping duties in... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghanistan's Gun Culture Challenge
22 February 2003
BBC News
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 were armed to fight the 10-year-long Soviet... (GunPolicy.org)
Captured Arms Will Stop Going to Afghan Militia
26 October 2002
Los Angeles Times
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 militias would fuel fighting... (GunPolicy.org)
Bulgaria Donates Arms, Equipment to Aid Afghan Army
21 August 2002
Associated Press
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 sets, said Col. Roger King at Bagram air... (GunPolicy.org)
Guns Offer Fast Profit for Afghans
6 August 2002
Christian Science Monitor
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. Zahir, who spent the last five years... (GunPolicy.org)
Despite Disarmament Order, Guns Ubiquitous on Kabul's Streets as Loya Jirga Nears
6 June 2002
Associated Press
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 are still everywhere — big guns,... (GunPolicy.org)
Crime Returning in Afghan City Where Taliban Harshness Kept Peace
5 April 2002
Associated Press
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 victim of an apparent robbery attempt. On... (GunPolicy.org)
Psst, Wanna Buy a Bayonet? Or a Burqa? On Dusty Afghan Base, American Soldiers Find a Marketplace
1 April 2002
Associated Press
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.
For soldiers here at this former Soviet... (GunPolicy.org)
United Nations Urges Afghanistan to Disarm
13 March 2002
Associated Press
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 me was that there is relative stability in... (GunPolicy.org)
Disarming Afghans Won't Be Easy
6 March 2002
Associated Press
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, as many as 10 million weapons were believed... (GunPolicy.org)
The Gun Doesn't Develop a Country; But Disarming the Afghans Won't Be Easy
6 March 2002
Associated Press
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, as many as 10 million weapons were believed... (GunPolicy.org)
Kabul Police Seize Arms in New Security Crackdown
29 January 2002
Reuters
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 to carry them.
Afghanistan is one of the most... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghans Unwilling to Give Up Weapons
21 January 2002
Chicago Tribune
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 thousands of Afghans are about to... (GunPolicy.org)
19 January 2002
Miami Herald
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 manning the checkpoints stopped trucks,... (GunPolicy.org)
18 January 2002
Reuters
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 Afghanistan.
Police from Britain to... (GunPolicy.org)
Kabul Takes Steps Toward Disarming Afghan Population
14 January 2002
New York Times
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 Alliance commander who oversees... (GunPolicy.org)
Afghanistan Aid Project Aimed at Disarmament
3 January 2002
Japan Times
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 collects 200 small arms.
By setting specific... (GunPolicy.org)
Kabul Prepares to Disarm Gun-Loving People
27 December 2001
Reuters
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 administration that took office last Saturday has... (GunPolicy.org)
12 December 2001
Newsday (New York)
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 network would keep their promise... (GunPolicy.org)
11 December 2001
Associated Press
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, looting and carjacking.
Everyone's... (GunPolicy.org)
Dressed to Kill from Kabul to Kandahar
26 November 2001
Washington Post
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 carry rifles; the rest carry cell phones,... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Control Policy, Jalalabad Style: He Who Grabs All the Rifles Writes the Rules
23 November 2001
New York Times
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 Shura, which controls this city... (GunPolicy.org)
20 November 2001
Fox News (USA)
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. They also need to be recognized as a... (GunPolicy.org)
Alliance Promises to Maintain Order
16 November 2001
San Francisco Chronicle
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 (rifle) in Kabul.
Qanooni says his... (GunPolicy.org)
US Sent Guns to bin Laden in 1980s
16 October 2001
Associated Press
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 Soviet Union from... (GunPolicy.org)
7 October 2001
New York Times
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 Soviet troops in Afghanistan, the report... (GunPolicy.org)