Arms provided by the United States and Saudi Arabia to Syrian opposition groups often ended up in the hands of the militant Islamic State (IS) group, according to a report by the UK-based organisation Conflict Armament Research (CAR).
"Iraq and
Syria have seen IS forces use large numbers of weapons, supplied by
states such as Saudi Arabia and the United States, against the various
international anti-IS coalitions that the two states support," reads the
study published on Thursday.
The report, "Weapons of the Islamic State — a three-year investigation in Iraq and Syria",
is the result of more than three years of field investigation into IS
supply chains and presents an analysis of more than 40,000 items
recovered from the group between 2014 and 2017. These items include
weapons, ammunition, and the traceable components and chemical
precursors used by the group to manufacture improvised explosive
devices.
According to the findings, 90% of the weapons
and ammunition used by IS since 2014 originated in China, Russia and
Eastern Europe.
Some of the weapons that were eventually
diverted to ISIS were originally provided by the US and Saudi Arabia to
Syrian opposition forces over the course of the conflict, adds the study
by the arms-monitoring group.
"Supplies of materiel
into the Syrian conflict from foreign parties — notably the United
States and Saudi Arabia — have indirectly allowed IS to obtain
substantial quantities of anti-armour ammunition."
The
report concludes that international weapon supplies to factions in the
Syrian conflict have "significantly augmented the quantity and quality
of weapons available to IS forces — in numbers far beyond those that
would have been available to the group through battlefield capture
alone".
It warns that IS forces continue to pose a grave
threat to regional and international security. "Evidence
presented in this report demonstrates that IS forces possess advanced
weapon systems, which will pose a threat to regional and international
forces in the years to come."
Last month, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had declared the end of IS.
The
Syrian conflict entered a new phase with the capture of Albu Kamal, the
last significant town in Syria held by IS, in November.
Iraqi
forces last month also captured the border town of Rawa, the last
remaining town there under IS, signalling the collapse of the so-called
caliphate the group proclaimed in 2014 across vast swathes of Iraqi and
Syrian territory.
Despite victory announcements of Syria
and Iraq being cleared of the militants, experts have warned that IS
retains the capacity as an insurgent group to carry out high-casualty
bomb attacks using sleeper cells.
