In Rock Island Auction Company’s recently ended December 2018 Premiere Firearms Auction, among a huge variety of rare and unique firearms, there were a couple of lots that should be especially interesting for the Silah Report audience. Particularly, in this article, we’ll take a brief look at the Tariq pistol that was allegedly presented to Saddam Hussein.
MENA
Sinai Bedouin Equipped With IMI Makleon
Since the terror attack that occurred on the 24th of November 2017, many Bedouins in Sinai rushed to join the Egyptian Armed Forces’ fight against Sinai Province (ISIS’ branch in Sinai) as a sanctioned militia. Although they do receive armament and supplies from the military, they are already well armed with smuggled weapons that came from Libya, Sudan, and even Israel as seen in this photo!
The Arms Smuggling Hub of Egypt: The South
The southern region of Egypt is known for its green pastures lying on both sides of the Nile River, Abu Simbel Temple which tourists from all over the world travel to see, Lake Nasser that was formed by the Aswan High Dam, Luxor’s Karnak Temple. Valley of the Kings and so many more. Yet, there aren’t many tourists who would venture out and try to deal with the local inhabitants, who have their own unique Egyptian Arabic dialects, own unique traditions, and culture, which separates them from the dwellers of Cairo, Alexandria, and Northern Egypt.
Notes on the Denel PAW-20 in use by Kurdish Forces
Variants of the South African Denel Praetoria Metal Pressings produced “Inkunzi” direct fire 20x42mm Personal Assault Weapon (PAW)-20 have been spotted in use by the Kurdish E.A.H.K Counter Terrorism Unit. This is one of a number of Kurdish Peshmerga units organized along a special operations or strike force concept, some of the others being the Western Kurdistan Special Forces and the Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG).
Azeri Machine Guns and Anti-Materiel Rifles from 2015
This post first appeared on The Firearm Blog as “Developments from Azerbaijan”.
At the recent IDEF Istanbul exhibition held this past May, Azerbaijan had some interesting developments of various small arms on display. Interestingly there wasn’t any demonstration of their service rifle, the Tavor (similarly, it appears most of the military still has 74s while the Tavor is making its appearance in parades).
Tokagypt: Egypt’s Forgotten Handgun
In 1957, the Hungarian conglomerate “FEG” (Fegyver- és Gépgyár-Arms and Machine Manufacturing Company) received a contract from the Egyptian Armed Forces requesting 30,000 Tokarev handguns. The Tokarevs would be in 9mm Parabellum instead of the 7.62 Tokarev round, magazines would have finger supports, a one-piece plastic grip, and a safety catch on top of the left side of the receiver.
Afghan and Pakistani Craft-Produced Kalashnikov Variations
This post originally appeared on The Firearm Blog in March of 2018.
What does an average person know about the Pakistani weapons and the military-industrial complex? Nothing. Ordinary people are not interested in this kind of weird stuff. OK, so what does an average gun enthusiast know about Pakistani weapons? Probably not much either.
Egyptian Female Volunteers in Suez Crisis and Their Armaments
Whenever you think of female warriors in the Middle East, the very first thing that crosses the Western mind is the YPJ (Women’s Protection Units), an all-female Kurdish militia that fights with other Kurdish militias such as the YPG (People’s Protection Units). Of course, with the war raging against ISIS, and the terrible atrocities committed against women, the global media fixated their spotlights on the female warriors who fought tooth and nail against a patriarchal, barbaric and medieval-minded opponent.
Within modern Arab history we have examples where women carried arms and fought as well.
French MAS Rifles in Syria, The Syrian Civil War
This guest article is brought to us by Bruce Marduel, taking a look at the French MAS series of bolt action and semi-automatic rifles in service throughout Syrian history, and in this case, the current Syrian Civil War.
MAS 36 is the oldest rifle is the MAS family, and even if it entered production before WWII it is still used in an impressive number of countries, including Lebanon and Syria. A MAS 36 was first visible in a 2013 picture of the Syrian Conflict, limited information is available, but it seems that MAS 36 are actually used in combat.
French MAS Rifles in Syria, a Historical Perspective
This guest article is brought to us by Bruce Marduel, taking a look at the French MAS series of bolt action and semi-automatic rifles in service throughout Syrian history.
There are plenty of exotic and obsolete weapons in the Middle East, and ancient French weapons produced by Manufacture d’Armes de St-Etienne can be spotted regularly in Syria along with StG 44, Mosin-Nagant and other relics.
Most of the rifles produced for the French Army during the XXth century were produced by Manufacture d’Armes de St-Etienne (MAS) : from the bolt-action Fusil à répétition 7.5mm M.36 a.k.a MAS 36, to the Fusil d’Assaut de la Manufacture d’Armes de St-Etienne also called FAMAS. The MAS 36 equipped the French Army since the 1930’s, followed by MAS 49 and MAS 49/56 after WWII. These rifles have a very long service life both in France and overseas.
MAS 36 arrived in the Middle-East during the Mandates and Second World War, back then France ruled over Syria and Lebanon, and French troops used MAS 36. During WWII, the French authorities of the Regime de Vichy (allied with Nazi Germany) declared Lebanon independent in 1941, the decision was confirmed by Free France and Charles de Gaulle, so the country became independent after WWII. The armed forces from newly-independent Lebanon used MAS 36 as a standard-issue rifle until the 1950’s when FN FAL replaced them. Lebanese MAS were kept as a reserve rifle or sold on the civilian market, so that they are visible among militias during the 1958 troubles in Lebanon.
Civilian MAS 36 in Beirut, 1958
1958 unrest in Lebanon
The most significant shipment of MAS rifles to the Middle-East took place in the early 1950’s, when France delivered weapons to Syria : six-thousand « Syrian contract » MAS 49 (serial number F3XXXX), twelve-thousand MAS 36 and a production line for 7,5x54mm ammunition. Photos of the Syrian Independence Day show the subsequent evolution in the armament of Syrian troops from 1946 to 1966 :
1946 parade with WWI Lebel
1954 parade with MAS 36
1957 parade with MAS 36
When Syria got closer to the Eastern Bloc (Baath putsch in 1963, and pro-soviet wing takeover in 1966) the Syrian army abandoned french rifles and adopted Kalashnikov, as showed in the video of the 1966 parade.
Use in Syrian Civil War
.