World War Two Era Weaponry in the Hands of ISIS in Sinai

Their is currently an insurgency being fought in Northern Sinai between the Egyptian military and security forces with ISIS’ branch “Wilayat Sainaa” (Sinai Province). We have found materials published by Egypt’s Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior that has listed some of the interesting gear and weaponry captured from ISIS. This includes World War Two era weaponry, DIY weapons, and what appears to be a single modified M1 helmet that could possibly have been the property of the Israeli Defense Forces once upon a time (this will be covered in a later article); this brings up the question: how much gear and weaponry were looted from battlefields by the locals during the conflicts between Egypt and Israel. In this article, we will present some of the rather exotic World War Two era weaponry while saving the DIY materials for a future article.

(Note: While World War Two era weaponry is quite a broad term that encompasses firearms still being used by modern-day armies such as the M2 Browning and the DShK heavy machine guns; this article will focus on small arms that are no longer in production, extremely rare to be acquired on the civilian and black markets and are not modern-day replicas.)

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V30: Israel’s Premier Attorney in Security Law – Perry Novotny

In Silah Report’s 30th and final podcast episode recorded in 2020, we interviewed an amazing guest from Israel, Perry Novotny. Perry is one of Israel’s premier security law attorneys, a former police instructor and a former member of the Israeli Defence Forces. In this episode, Perry enlightened us about the legal framework for firearms in Israel, gave us a deeper insight on the Israeli culture in relation to firearms in contrast to what is being seen on popular media and the selection of firearms in the security field (as well as his own taste in firearms).

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Podcast V24: The State of the Turkish Firearms Industry

In the 24th episode of the Silah Report Podcast, we interviewed Mustafa from Turkey, a professional in the Turkish firearm industry, and discussed in-depth the manufacturing of small arms in Turkey, covering a range of weaponry such as handguns, rifles, and shotguns. 

The public SoundCloud version below includes the first forty-six minutes of the podcast, our supporters on Patreon can access the entire interview, which is over an hour long.  So if you haven’t already please support us in our mission to bring you the best examination of MENA small arms culture we can!

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Iraq, Syria and Yemen: February Market Highlights

Welcome to another installment of our series examining gun market trends across the MENA region. With this series, we are focusing on Iraq, Idlib, Afrin and Yemen at the moment. The time-frame of the data in this article runs from 8th February to 21st February 2020. The prices are average and are rounded up or down (for example 126=150, 124=100). If you missed our last installment you can find it here.

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V23: Interview with Vernon Easley on Martini-Henry Rifle Production in Afghanistan

On the 23rd episode of the Silah Report Podcast, Miles interviews Vernon Easley and together they discuss the history of Martini rifles in Afghanistan as well as the new book he co-authored with N.R. Jenzen-Jones: THE EMIR’S NEW RIFLES: A HISTORY OF THE KABUL ARSENAL, 1885 – 1925. The discussion is incredibly rich with knowledge and in-depth research done not only on historical firearms in the region but also on the culture and history of the region itself.

The public SoundCloud version below includes the first forty-six minutes of the podcast, our supporters on Patreon can access the entire interview, which is one hour and 14 minutes long! So if you haven’t already please support us in our mission to bring you the best examination of MENA small arms culture we can!

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V22: Hydro-Dipping Small Arms in Idlib, One Craftsman’s Experience

Welcome to the 22nd episode of the Silah Report Podcast, we recently had the pleasure of speaking with a gunsmith currently living in Idlib who has a long history fighting the SAA, not as an armed militant but as a gunsmith. Before the rebel pocket in Damascus fell to the SAA, he worked on manufacturing ammunition, weaponry, and even mortars for the resistance. He also worked on hydro-dipping rebel firearms. Currently, he resides in Idlib and had a short-lived business project hydro-dipping firearms. He agreed to be interviewed and to inform us about his journey specifically in that field, given that there are hundreds of photos of Syrian rebels with painted firearms floating throughout the internet and it is quite common now to see hydro dipped AK-pattern rifles. We at Silah Report wanted to know more about the industry and the people involved in it.

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V9 Silah Report Podcast: Sinai’s ISIS latest Video, Baluchistan’s Fighters and More!

Just one day after ISIS in Sinai (also known as Sinai Province or “Wilayat Sinai”) had published its latest video, Silah Report recorded its 9th podcast and discussed the video’s content and analysed it. Miles, Hrachya, and Adham from Silah Report were joined by guests Calibre Obscura, Analyst Mick, Ataka, MENA Conflict, and KhyberAbdullah. ARES Director N.R. Jenzen-Jones also made a special guest appearance.

If you missed last week’s podcast, check it out here.

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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.

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