Konflikten i Syrien

A huge Russian shipment of weapons bound for Syria in the form of one government-contracted sea-lifter and a naval landing ship has recently transited the Bosphorus Strait.

Observers from the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey have observed the transiting of two Russian vessels – one a sea-lifter and the other a navy landing ship – inbound for the Syrian port city of Tartus; both are carrying a wealth new military equipment.

An extensive field investigation into the origins of Isis’ weaponry in Syria and Iraq has found that weapons supplied by the US and Saudi Arabia to the Syrian opposition often ended up in the jihadis’ hands, enhancing the “quantity and quality” of their armaments.

While most weapons in Isis’ arsenal were captured from the Syrian and Iraqi armies, Conflict Armament Research (CAR)’s report, published on Thursday, found that the number of US and Saudi supplied weapons in Isis’ arsenal goes “far beyond those that would have been available through battle capture alone”.

“Iraq and Syria have seen Isis forces use large numbers of weapons, supplied by states such as Saudi Arabia and the United States, against the various international anti-Isis coalitions that the two states support,” researchers found.