Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has admitted that ISIS have captured huge caches of US-made weapons, including thousands of Humvees seized from Iraqi forces who were retreating from Mosul last year. The weapons have since then been used by ISIS to gain ground in Iraq and Syria.
In an interview on Iraqiya state TV he said that lost 2,300 Humvees were lost in in Mosul alone.”
ISIS captured Iraq’s second city of Mosul in June 2014, as government forces retreated from the country’s Sunni stronghold.
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RT reports: The number of potential heavy and light weapons abandoned by Iraq’s army remains unknown but over the past decade the US sold thousands of the armed vehicles to the Iraqis, in addition to tanks and other military hardware.
Just this month the Pentagon estimated that at least half a dozen tanks were abandoned when Baghdad forces lost Ramadi, in addition to artillery pieces, and some 100 Humvees.
Meanwhile the US approved new arms deliveries to the Iraqis last December to replenish the stock ransacked by IS. One contract allows the sale of 175 heavy M1A1 Abarams worth $12.4 billion, while another approves the delivery of 1,000 Humvees, equipped with M2.50 caliber machine guns and MK-19 40mm grenade launchers.
They are exactly the types of weapons IS used to gain vast amount of territory both in Iraq and northern Syria. In fact, the first use of US-Humvees on Syrian territory was reported last year shortly after Mosul has fallen to jihadists.
Niamh Harris
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