CAR investigated the supply chain of weapons used in Iraq and Syria and discovered that components used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are built using commercial goods that do not require a government export license and fall under the radar and regulation of weapon sales.
#IS forces have manufactured and deployed #IEDs across the battlefield on a quasi-industrial scale.Made of components…
Posted by Conflict Armament Research on Thursday, February 25, 2016
The investigation found that the weapon supply chain in Iraq and Syria has links to markets in other countries including Turkey, India and the United States.
"IS [Daesh] forces have manufactured and deployed improved explosive devices (IEDs) across the battlefield on a quasi-industrial scale….Made of components that are cheap and readily available, IEDs have become IS forces' signature weapon", the report 'Tracing the supply of components used in Islamic State IEDs' says.
Over 20 months, investigators traced the supply chain of more than 700 components used by Daesh militants to make IEDs and found 51 companies from 20 different countries were involved in the manufacture of those detonated by Daesh.
CAR Executive Director James Bevan speaks to @RT_com about findings from our report on IEDs https://t.co/Am9OZ7H520 https://t.co/2AkCiIen8k
— CAR (@conflictarm) February 25, 2016
Company headquarters in Japan, Switzerland and the United States manufactured micro-controllers and transistors used in remote-controlled IEDs by Daesh militants in Iraq, the report also states.
"The companies produced, sold, or received critical material, such as chemical precursors, detonating cord, detonators, cables, wires and other electronic components."
CAR discovered that Daesh favor a specific Nokia cell phone supplied to intermediaries in United Arab Emirates and sent to distributors in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan.
Five phones seized by Peshmerga forces from Daesh in Iraq were part of a batch of Nokia 105 RM-908 bought by a trading company in Yemen and delivered to a business in Dubai.
"Microsoft Corporation, of which Microsoft Mobile is an affiliate, has provided CAR with extensive information on the chain of custody of ten mobile telephones seized from IS [Daesh] forces in Iraq," the report states.
"They were delivered to local providers in Erbil, Iraq or Dubai, where they were likely purchased by IS [Daesh] intermediaries or operatives."
Turkey has the largest number of companies involved in the supply chain of IEDs to Daesh with 13 companies involved in some way with the manufacture of IEDs by Daesh forces, CAR investigators found.
CAR approached representatives of the companies involved and said some were surprised and even shocked.
Executive director James Bevan told ABC news:
"Western companies with subsidiaries in Turkey could tell their distributors that they do not want their products going to IS [Daesh] anymore. We hope that's going to happen and we think it will."
Other countries involved in the investigation include Brazil, Romania, Russia, China, Belgium, Netherlands, Lebanon, India, Austria, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Japan and Finland.
