A long-lost video filmed by fighters of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, once thought lost to us who’ve been following the arms trade in the Pak-Afghan region over the last decade and longer, has recently resurfaced after a few years of it being pushed off the world-wide-web and into the deep reaches of the online archives. It was once again shared with us by our colleague Mick who runs an OSINT feed, much to our jubilation.
Makarov
Albanians Fighting in Syria: Xhemati Alban in 2020 – Part 1
This article is the first of a four part series where we will focus on the weapons seen in the propaganda of Xhemati Alban, an ethnic Albanian insurgent group operating in Syria, published in 2020.
Examining Makarov Handgun-Clone of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Origin
While in Afghanistan we received the unique opportunity to examine a 9×18mm PM Makarov-patterned self-loading handgun that was produced in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (خیبر پښتونخوا, Land of the Pakhtuns) region of northeastern Pakistan (formerly known as the North West Frontier Province, NWFP). Small arms produced in this region have been colloquially referred to as “Khyber Pass Guns” in the West due to their point of travel into Afghanistan through the passage of steep mountain valleys between Torkham in Pakistan and Jalalabad in Afghanistan. Somewhat of a misnomer, the majority of these firearms are actually made nowhere near the Khyber Pass. Instead, a more correct and prominent center of gun making in the region is the small town of Darra Adam Khel (درہ آدم خیل), which lies approximately 40 kilometers due south from Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.