In the 17th episode of our podcast, we had a new guest from the Kurdistan region who was well versed in the small arms market in the region. The host for the episode was Adham and we had Miles, Daniel, Khyber Abdullah, Mick, our patron Nate and last but not least, our guest from Kurdistan, Rasty.
Non-State Actors
V16: Sniper Rifles and Tactics Against IS in Syria, a SMLE in Afghanistan, and a Counterfeit Revolver in Iran
Our guest speaker and main presenter in this week’s edition of the SR podcast is Ed Nash, author of Desert Sniper. Ed took part in the fighting against the so-called Islamic State when he travelled to Syria to fight with the Syrian Democratic Forces, ending up as a precision rifleman in the campaigns of Hasakah, Shadaddi, and eventually Minbij where he ended his tour. He covers everything from the odd tactics in use with the YPG, types of precision rifles employed, and some of the bits of kit that helped him through the fighting.
Kalashnikov Stitched Up: Wrapping the AK Platform in Rojava
A phenomenon that has been observed with YPG/YPJ Fighters in recent years has been the practice of wrapping service rifles with fitted fabric. The extent to which rifles have been fitted goes from small pieces that might just cover the magazine or handguard to full-length covers that can sometimes enclose the entire rifle. The reason behind these wraps range from a sort of camouflage to a purely aesthetic venture.
Operation Balak: The IDF’s Star of David on Nazi Rifles
“All is fair in love and war” is an idiom in English that refers to the practice of otherwise questionable actions being considered acceptable under exceptional circumstances. When talking about weaponry in general, one example to illustrate the aforementioned saying would be the direct use of an enemy’s arms of war to forward one’s own agenda. Anti-Communist Afghan Mujahideen fighting their Soviet enemies with Soviet-made weaponry, Islamic State attacking regional adversaries with US M4’s and M16’s or the post-war US government employing former German and Japanese scientists and technologies for their fight against the Red Menace are all examples of this common practice. The Israeli Defense Forces‘ hexagram emblem on Nazi Mauser-manufactured Kar98k carbines is another interesting manifestation of this idiom.
Covering the Dragunov: Fabric Wraps Among the YPG/YPJ
A phenomenon that has been observed with YPG/YPJ Fighters in recent years has been the practice of wrapping service rifles with fitted fabric. The extent to which rifles have been fitted goes from small pieces that might just cover the magazine or handguard to full-length covers that can sometimes enclose the entire rifle. The reason behind these wraps range from a sort of camouflage to a purely aesthetic venture.
Silah Report Podcast V14: Pakistani Glocks, Improvised 44 Bore ammunition, Old Rifles in Afrin
What would Glock copies be if there weren’t a KPK-region version? And are these even considered fake or real in the larger Pakistani context? In this episode, Kyber Armoury, Adham, Daniel, Mr. Jenzen-Jones, and Analyst Mick present and take a look at all these topics. We also take questions from Patreon members about such things as radio usage in Syria.
Does a Sinister Symbol on a Remington Rolling Block Hint at its Role as an Executioner’s Weapon?
‘If walls could talk’ is a popular idiom to express the desire of wanting to know more about what happened in a certain place. But what if weapons could talk? What could tell us their experiences on the field of battle? There’s at least one rifle whose story would be downright horrific, a sinister engraved symbol on its receiver a faint witness of long gone atrocities.
Smuggled MG-34 Seized in a Raid by Egyptian Security Forces in Sinai
While reviewing old articles on smuggled weapons and munitions to Egypt and to Sinai specifically, I came across an article on ”ONewsAgency” published on the 16th December, 2014, about the seizure of five hundred kilograms of Bango (a type of marijuana) and a variety of small arms in “South Sinai Governate”. One of the weapons photographed was the Second World War-vintage MG-34, 7.92 × 57 mm, general purpose machine gun.
PKK Small Arms Captures: January-March 2019
Some interesting small arms were captured by Turkish forces from the Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê or Kurdistan Workers’ Party – PKK, these caches included shoulder-fired recoilless weapons and various self-loading rifles.
V12 Silah Report Podcast: Patreon Questions and Large ISIS Arsenal Captured
In the 12th episode of Silah Report Podcast we were joined by Adham, Vlad, Daniel, Miles, Ataka, MENA, Analyst Mick, and Abdullah Khyber. We answered four questions submitted by Patreon supporters of Silah Report and discussed an ISIS weapons and munitions cache recently captured by Iraqi security forces.
If you’d like to have your questions answered by our panel please support Silah Report on Patreon and submit questions as often as you like!
If you missed last week’s episode, you can find it here.