Welcome to the 28th episode of the Silah Report Podcast, we recently had the pleasure of speaking with Noori, an artisan who runs a business of handcrafting decorations on firearms in Iraq. We have covered Noori’s interesting work in past articles here at Silah Report. To say that the quality of his artwork is incredibly professional and its quality is extremely beautiful would be an understatement. In our interview with him, we enquired in-depth abut Iraqi gun culture, his background, how he entered the field, his business in a war-torn country, the challenges he faced and what does think the future holds for him.
Sanctioned Militia
Podcast V26 – Part Three: Galal Abdo Hashem – Defiance, Victory and the Dream
In our journey to uncover wartime stories from all sides during the Arab-Israeli Conflict, we managed to meet Galal Abdo Hashem, an Egyptian living in his home city of Ismalia, a city that has witnessed the horrors of war more than once during the 20th century. Galal Abdo Hashem is not a war veteran with military training, in fact, he never fired a single shot towards his enemies, but he decided to do something instead that gained him notoriety and his name written on Egypt’s Honor List. To this day he gives lectures, speaks with journalists, and appears on TV shows to speak about his experience and journey during a time when Egypt was at war with Israel. This article is the story of one of Egypt’s civilians who, despite taking up arms to defend his homeland, decided there was another way to contribute to the war effort – art.
Podcast V27: Gunning in Kurdistan, Kobra Tactical Training
Welcome to the 27th episode of the Silah Report Podcast! We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Hamed, a Kurdish firearm instructor and contractor situated in Erbil. We discussed with him his history as a Kurdish contractor, the environment in Erbil for private security contractors and his project, Kobra Tactical. Through his project, he aims to give Kurdish security forces and shooters a chance to further their small arms marksmanship. He also explained to us the “cultural mindset” of many Kurds and their “resistance to modernization/adoption of better combat tactics”.
Britain’s WW2 PIAT Anti-Tank Weapon In Service With the Haganah In Palestine
The Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank or PIAT was Britain’s primary infantry anti-tank weapon during the latter half of the Second World War. Firing a 2.5lbs bomb containing a shaped charge warhead capable of penetrating armour up to 4 inches thick. During the Second World War, it equipped British and Commonwealth troops as well as arming resistance and partisan fighters behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Europe. Based on a spigot mortar system of operation it was largely obsolete with the refinement of rocket launched and recoilless rifle systems. Despite increasing obsolescence, it continued to see use after the war. In this article, we will examine its use by the Israeli Haganah during the 1947–49 Arab-Israeli conflict.
Podcast V26 – Part One: Galal Abdo Hashem – The Shrapnel Collector of Egypt
In our journey to uncover wartime stories from all sides during the Arab-Israeli Conflict we managed to meet Galal Abdo Hashem, an Egyptian living in his home city of Ismalia, a city that witnessed the horrors of war more than once during the 20th century. Galal Abdo Hashem is not a war veteran with military training, in fact, he never fired a single shot towards his enemies, but he decided to do something instead that gained him notoriety and his name written on Egypt’s Honor List. To this day he gives lectures, speaks with journalists and appears on TV shows to speak about his experience and journey during a time when Egypt was at war with Israel. This article is the story of one of Egypt’s civilians who, despite taking up arms to defend his homeland, decided there was another way to contribute to the war effort – art.
V21: Marwan the Iraqi Gunsmith
In the 21st episode of the Silah Report Podcast, an Iraqi gunsmith talks to us at length about his experiences in aesthetically converting a functional 7.62×39mm RPD Light Machine Gun into what could easily be mistaken for an FN Herstal Minimi, or the US-designated M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, 5.56×45mm light machine gun. He takes us on this journey of tinkering and acquiring spare parts, sometimes even carving items like the buttstock out of wood to make it appear to be a plastic one from afar.
Icon of a Movement: The Syrian ‘PKM’ Wooden Buttstock
The supply conditions of the ongoing Syrian Civil War set the stage for a necessity of improvisation and invention. Where there is low supply, there is high demand that reflects through inflated market prices for small arms and equipment. This equation lends itself to the iconic PKM-inspired YPG Kalashnikov wooden stock that can be seen in service throughout initially what was the YPG, YPJ, and later morphed into the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The stock itself comes from the Russian 7.62×54mmR general-purpose machine gun.
V17: Smalls Arms in Kurdistan Region and the Local Laws
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.
Book Review: Desert Sniper by Ed Nash
Desert Sniper follows British citizen turned YPG/SDF foreign fighter volunteer through his experiences fighting with the SDF in Syria during 2015-2016. Ed was motivated by his desire to go and fight an enemy that none of the world seemed to care too much about fighting, which at that was the so-called Islamic State. Once he got into northeastern land mass in Syria known as Rojava, he actually became a sniper for the SDF, supporting SDF infantrymen in such campaigns as Hasaka, Shidaddi, and finally in Minbij where he ended his service in Syria.
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!