Konflikten i Syrien

This report is the result of more than three years of field investigation into Islamic State supply chains. It presents an analysis of more than 40,000 items recovered from the group between 2014 and 2017. These items encompass weapons, ammunition, and the traceable components and chemical precursors used by the group to manufacture improvised explosive devices.

Some weapons bought by the U.S. military in 2015 ended up in the hands of Islamic State fighters within two months, according to a report released Thursday.
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CAR found that one anti-tank missile sold to the U.S. Army made its way to ISIS in just 59 days.

“This is extremely short,” said Damien Spleeters, the group's researcher for Iraq and Syria, told NBC News during a recent field visit to Tal Afar, Iraq. “It means that there are not many intermediaries in this chain of custody.”
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According to CAR's report, Iraqi police recovered a Bulgarian-made missile tube — part of a system for firing a wire-guided anti-tank missile — during the battle of Ramadi on Feb. 9, 2016.

CAR documented the item and traced its origin to a Bulgarian manufacturer. The company confirmed to researchers that the weapon had been exported to the U.S. Army through an arms broker on Dec. 12, 2015.

It is not entirely clear how the weapon got from the Bulgarian plant to ISIS fighters in Iraq.

However, a Syrian opposition group called Jaysh al-Nasr posted a series of photographs on Dec. 21, 2016, showing fighters posing in a snowy landscape. A closer inspection shows that one of their anti-tank weapons bears an identical lot number and a similar serial number to the item seized in Iraq.
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Based on the anti-tank missile tube found in Ramadi and other examples of weapons purchased by U.S. suppliers from European manufacturers, CAR says there is evidence that many weapons obtained by various Syrian rebel groups supported by the U.S. were diverted to ISIS.

When asked to comment on U.S.-purchased arms potentially ending up in the hands of ISIS, Eric Pahon, a spokesman for the Department of Defense, said, “Any alleged misuse or diversion of U.S. support will be taken seriously and lead to the possible curtailment of support, if verified.”

Pahon added that he had not seen the CAR report.

The CIA ran a covert program for arming some rebel groups fighting Syrian regime forces until the Trump administration reportedly axed it in July. U.S. government and military officials have declined to ever confirm the existence of the CIA program on the record, though President Donald Trump tweeted about it this year.