Improvised Small Arms of ISIS in the Sinai Campaign

Ever since Libya fell into the civil war of 2011 Egypt has had a massive problem with arms smuggling on its borders with Libya. Thousands upon thousands of firearms, tons of explosives, legacy anti-air MANPADs, as well as advanced weaponry like the Kornet ATGM. Egypt in 2011 was almost in a complete state of chaos due to a revolution that saw its then-president Hosni Mubarak removed from power after ruling the country for thirty years and replaced by the SCAF (Supreme Command of the Armed Forces). In this article we will examine some of the improvised munitions and weapons that have been spotted on the Sinai Peninsula.

In the immediate aftermath of Egypt’s revolution, corruption, and crime saw an unprecedented rise, to say the least. Smugglers used the new opportunities presented by the phenomenal circumstances in both countries to smuggle all kinds of materials from Libya to mainland Egypt to Sinai and even to Gaza. As the war on terror raged on in Sinai, ISIS received a massive blow to its logistical chain. As Egypt tightened the security on its borders with Libya and destroyed literally hundreds of underground smuggling tunnels between Sinai and Gaza; ISIS had to count upon whatever quantities that managed to pass through from Libya, Sudan and whatever they can loot from Egyptian security, military, and tribals allied with Cairo.

For ISIS, gone are the days of ATGM attacks on Egyptian armored vehicles and MANPAD launches. Recently there have been some secondary sources stating that ISIS in Sinai had embraced the use of improvised firearms and launchers even before their logistics were hit hard. Unfortunately, when it comes to journalism and third-party reporting on the insurgency in the region Egypt’s tightened security belt has made it extremely difficult to verify various claims. One asset we can examine is released footage and photographs from Egypt’s Ministry of Defense as well as visual materials taken by Egyptian troops stationed in the region and shared online. Until we started meticulously analyzing released footage we had little to go on. Fortunately, now we can finally present a number of samples of ISIS improvised weaponry.

Fig. 1.1. In a still from a video published by Egypt’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) – two RPG-7 patterned weapons captured by Egyptian border guards on the Libyan borders in 2014-15. Those RPGs are extremely unique because they are crude homemade ones (notice how the top RPG has the grip and firing mechanism is ‘installed’ in the opposite direction). This possibly serves as an indication that ISIS did not just manufacture their own craft-made but potentially “imported” them from other craft sources. (Source: Egyptian MOD)

Fig. 1.2. In a recent picture released by ISIS this year, a militant in the center of the group carries what appears to be a crudely made RPG with red tape all around it (possibly for aesthetic and photo op purposes). (Source: OSINT/ARES CONMAT) 

Fig 1.3. In another still from a video released by the Egyptian MOD, what appears to be a damaged DIY mortar round was spotted. The ordnance appears to be partially disassembled. (Source: Egyptian MOD)

Fig. 1.4. An unusual improvised item which appeared in one of the Egyptian’s MODs 2015 videos. Its shape is reminiscent of a Panzerfaust anti-tank warhead. It is speculated that it may be some sort of grenade. (Source: Egyptian MOD)

Pictured above is an extremely bizarre improvised weapon which appeared in one of the Egyptian MOD’s video showing the captures of ISIS gear, after their catastrophic failure to capture the city of Arish in 2015. ISIS launched coordinated and simultaneous attacks on nearby military checkpoints and on security forces that were in the city but the battle surprisingly ended with a large number of casualties amongst ISIS and minimal losses on the Egyptian side. Dozens of ISIS corpses were photographed by Egypt’s MOD and the wrecks of several technicals (improvised fighting vehicles). This “Panzerfaust Stick Grenade”, as colloquially named by Silah Report’s staff, belonged to an ISIS unit that attempted to overrun a military checkpoint. The “grenade” initially might be mistaken as a modified Panzerfaust-pattern shaped charge warhead, but upon further inspection, it does not appear to be one. The link to the World War Two-era Panzerfaust does not appear extend beyond external shape.

Fig. 1.5. A censored version of another photo of the “Panzerfaust Stick Grenade” beside the RPG-7 (a militant lies dead with a massive hole in his head in the technical). (Source: Egyptian MOD)

According to some sources crudely made precision rifles and submachine guns have been encountered in the campaign (however, Cairo destroys the majority of captured craft-produced/assembled weaponry). Unfortunately, we do not have evidence to confirm this, although we do have more pictures for what appears to be yet another crudely made RPG it is too difficult to censor that photo.

In November 2020, an Egyptian officer posted a picture of a craft-built anti-materiel rifle made by ISIS. The rifle in question was in 12.7x99mm (.50 BMG) and was captured after a firefight with an ISIS militant who was using it as a fixed weapon, according to the officer.

Fig 1.6. On the 15th of November 2020, an Egyptian soldier posted a picture of a DIY anti-materiel rifle made by ISIS. Note the long bolt handle, possibly necessary for a bolt locking with tight tolerances. The pistol grip appears to be sourced from a Kalashnikov-patterned rifle.(Source: ARES CONMAT)

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