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In Memoriam: Ethan Field of MENA Conflict

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It is with great regret that we announce the passing of Ethan Field, author of MENA Conflict on Twitter. Ethan was a great source of knowledge and encouragement to those researchers in the small arms community covering the history and current use of small arms and light weapons in the Middle East. He was a dedicated father and husband, working for the government after serving in the Marine Corps in 1st LAR in Iraq, Marine Corps Base Quantico as a TBS instructor, and 2nd Battalion 9th Marines in Helmand  Province, Afghanistan.

Ethan was dedicated to the study of small arms and was fascinated by their use and mechanical operation. I loved spending time with him going over the intricacies of whatever platform we were discussing. But he had an incredibly open-mind when it came to the peoples, cultures, and languages, having studied Arabic at DLI, used it with 1st LAR, and then picking up Dari in Helmand working with the ANA-partnered troops. This is what really drew us together at the intersection of these disciplines.

I thoroughly enjoyed our discussions and hanging out, checking out nearby restaurants, military history shows, our Silah Report podcasts that he participated in, talking about local Virginia history. Being around Ethan was always easy for me, as we had so many similar experiences and diverse interests that there was always something both of us could bring up and we could talk and discuss. 

Similar to myself, the Afghan withdrawal greatly affected him. So much so that he requested to be pulled off his tasks of identification and recognition at work during the withdrawal. I don’t know what made him ultimately decide to leave this world, but the timing was certainly around the same as the anniversary of the withdrawal. I know he had retired from federal service, and I feel that might have contributed to some of his darkness as well, maybe not having a tangible mission to contribute to, but now we will never know.

We’ll miss you Brother, Semper Fidelis.

إِنَّا ِلِلَّٰهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ

Ethan and I during one of our hangouts.

The Hakim Rifle in Somali Service: A Forgotten History

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The Hakim self-loading rifle is often thought of as having been symbolic of Egypt’s military presence in the Sinai peninsula during the 1956 War and as a middle ground between its 7.92×57mm FN49 self-loading rifles and later 7.62×39mm Kalashnikov pattern self-loading rifles. However, there exists little evidence that the rifle was used in such capacity by the Egyptians, only a few photographs exist of the Hakim in use in the Sinai, usually in rear echelon or training contexts. Much more evidence suggests that the Hakim was employed heavily in Yemen by both Egyptian soldiers and their Yemeni allies through photographs and Hakim rifles that occasionally surface on the Yemeni market. A further yet unexplored destination and user of Hakim rifles is Somalia and this article will illustrate how evidence suggests that it was actually one of the most prolific users of the Hakim.

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ARES New Research Paper Looks at Online Arms Trade in Syria

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Armament Research Services have published a new research paper, Analysing the Online Arms Trade in Opposition-controlled Syria. It provides a ‘first-look’ analysis of more than 800 individual trades of small arms, light weapons, munitions, and blank-firing weapons conducted during a three-month period between 1 November 2020 and 31 January 2021. A collaborative effort between affiliates of both ARES and Silah Report the new report lays out a framework for more detailed future work.

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Podcast V29: Michael – IDF Veteran Paratrooper of Yom Kippur War

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Welcome to the 29th episode of the Silah Report Podcast! We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Michael, a former veteran paratrooper in the Israeli Defense Forces who participated in the Yom Kippur War (known in the Arab world as The October War). Michael shared his experiences in the IDF starting with his training, which had a lot of surprises hidden for us, all the way up to his role in the Yom Kippur War in 1973. We also enquired about the types and origins of firearms he encountered during his service that his Arab adversaries had used. Later on, Michael would end up serving as a firearms instructor (specializing in Warsaw Pact weaponry) and after that a firearms specialist for a private firm.

Note: The views of the individuals we interview on the Silah Report Podcast represent themselves only and not the views of Silah Report. In Silah Report, one of our core tenets is to remain apolitical and unbiased when it comes to our research. Indeed, in Silah Report we have members from different ethnicities, religions, and political views. We do not let our personal convictions affect the quality of the content we provide to our audience and we do our best to provide you with the most accurate and unbiased information available. 

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Podcast V28: Noori, The Iraqi Gun Engraving Artisan

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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.

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Podcast V26 – Part Three: Galal Abdo Hashem – Defiance, Victory and the Dream

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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.

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AR15 Rifles from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Based Royal Arms Company

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The AR15 or ‘M16’ & ‘M4’ pattern self-loading rifles are a very popular choice in many commercial and military markets the world over, Pakistan is no exception. Some Pakistani law-enforcement and military units utilise varying models of this platform already and a large prevalence of M4 and M16 5.56×45mm rifles of various types and manufacturers have been creeping onto the market slowly in the last few decades or so, none more so than the Colt or FN marked M4A1 and M16A2/A4 rifles seeping through from Afghanistan in the last decade. There is such a high demand for these particular firearms and a low supply and high price for genuine examples that various manufacturers stepped up-to-the plate and have started to manufacture their own copies within the ex-FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, mainly in Peshawar’s small-arms manufacturing zones but also within the infamous arms manufacturing town of Darra Adamkhel.

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A Look Back in Time: Darra Adamkhel During The Soviet-Afghan War – 1983

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The focus of this article is a video which has been around for some time, yet seems to be somewhat obscure. So far, I have yet to see it shared amongst the firearm community interested in the Pak-Afghan region’s cottage manufacturing of small-arms. A total of 37 years, as of 2020, have elapsed since it was made and although the quality isn’t great, it is a glimpse into the distant past, a look at what process are still the same and what has changed since then.

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The Afghan Mujahideen’s ‘Poison-Bullet’ – Then and Now

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The 5.45×39mm intermediate round is of course not new, it has been around since the early 70’s when it was developed in Russia for the new AK project, later called the AK-74. This potent round was nicknamed the poison-bullet by Mujahideen in Afghanistan, during the Soviet-Afghan conflict of 1979-1989, due to its tremendous wounding effects on its target. Since then, the round has only gained in popularity within the Pak-Afghan region whilst other areas of the former Soviet-Union have moved away to different cartridges such as the NATO standard 5.56×45mm. The venerable 5.45 round is still in use by a small number of militaries, most notably the Russians.

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The Last Gunsmiths of The Khyber Pass

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Fog clings to a never-ending row of low-rise buildings down the length of a dusty road, it’s early, around eight o’clock on a cool April morning. The fog clears and voices breakthrough and you see the first glimpses of the large bazaar, sounds of shutters slamming open, doors being unlocked and people greeting each other as their day starts. The occasional chatter of gunfire can be heard as firearms are test fired nearby.

Darra Adam Khel. This bustling town is situated in modern-day Pakistan, a stone’s throw from the Pak-Afghan border. What makes it so special? You may ask and the answer lies within the myriad of myths and legends put out over the years.

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