Defense Aerospace reports that many of the Walther P1 pistols, which Germany donated to the Afghan police force, have found their way onto the black market. Defense Aerospace reports:
German military pistols are being sold on the black market in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The weapons were sent in 2006 and were intended for local police and army personnel.
Arms dealers in the region told German public radio that hundreds of German weapons were for sale carrying a price tag of over 680 euros a piece ($1,000).
In 2006, the German Defense Ministry shipped 10,000 old Walther-P1 pistols to the Afghan Interior Ministry to equip Afghan police and army. However, both the German government and the responsible US-led security team in Afghanistan reportedly failed to properly monitor the guns' whereabouts.
The US unit said that it only had detailed records of 4,563 pistols out of a total 10,000.
Current and former Afghan soldiers and police officers are said to be among those illegally selling and trafficking the pistols, some of which have ended up in Pakistan's north-west border provinces and neighboring tribal areas.
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The team of NDR radio reporters who discovered the black market guns said it's not clear exactly how they ended up there.
"Apparently, most of these pistols haven't been stolen, but were simply taken home and sold by former police officers and soldiers after they'd left the service," said Christoph Heinzle, who headed the NDR team. "But corruption and theft cannot be ruled out because neither the Afghan authorities nor the US and German armed forces carry out effective controls to prevent [theft]."
The United States has also come under criticism in the past for losing track of weapons donated to local forces. Short of retina scanning, which is being used to keep track of Iraqi M16 rifles, there is very little that can be done to prevent the end-users stealing the weapons they are issued.
Manu of Indian Defence News emailed me a link to a online reprint of a New Zealand newspaper article that was originally published on 13 May 1909. It says how New Zealand and Australia army rifles destined to Great Britain ended by being used by rebels on the Indian (now Pakistan) Afghan border.
The Englishman states that arms are being smuggled across the Pathan frontier which bear the Australian and the New Zealand Government marks. It is believed that they were sold when the new rifle was adopted.
Two years ago the New Zealand Defence Department disposed of a large accumulation of obsolete Snider and Martini rifles by tender, a condition being that they must go to England.
The purchaser of the greater number of the rifles gave an assurance that they were being sent to Birmingham, presumably to be taken to pieces and some of the parts used for more modern rifles.
The Government has since received advice that 28 of these rifles (bearing the New Zealand stamp) have been taken from the rebel hill tribes on the north-west frontier of India.
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That must have been very embarrassing for the colonial New Zealand and British governments. I recently blogged that these old single shot Martini rifles are still being used by insurgents in the region.
The AFP reports that Pakistan will be distributing 30,000 confiscated rifles amongst villagers under the “Village Defence Rifle” programme:
Under the “Village Defence Rifle” programme, chief minister Ameer Haider Hoti has ordered the distribution of rifles among “peaceful individuals and organised groups,” a statement issued by Hoti’s office said.
“The move is aimed at increasing cooperation between people and police to check the activities of terrorists and saboteurs,” it said.
The cache of 30,000 rifles to be distributed among villagers had been confiscated by police from “terrorists and anti-social elements” and guns would be taken back if not used against militants, the statement said.
I think this is a good common sense approach to preventing Taliban encroachment into Pakistan. I hate reading about rifles and other small arms captured in Afghanistan and Iraq being destroyed when citizens are at risk of insurgent attacks.
The Indian National Security Guard (NSG) have stooped pretty low. They are claiming part of the reason the Mumbai terror attacks were so deadly was because the terrorists were carrying MP5s and the NSG Commandos only had AK-47s. DNA India reports:
The MP5 is far superior to the AK47 and is only used by the security forces of various countries. This led the NSG to believe that the terrorists were more heavily armed than they had thought. But the mystery was solved when they realised that the terrorists had seized Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s weapon after killing him. The NSG feel that the acquisition of this weapon had extended their resistance by a few hours. This is also an indication, said a senior officer, that the terrorists were trained in the use of this sophisticated weapon as well.
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Overall, the HK MP5 is the weapon of choice for most European forces and the US. More notable users include the United States’s Navy SEAL, the German GSG9 group and the British SAS. It is also used by civil protection forces such as police and special SWAT team units.
The thought that these “special forces” were scared off by 9mm submachine guns when they were armed with 7.62×39mm rifles is a joke. Chances are they also had 7.62mm NATO G3s FALs on hand as well.
Pakistan Ordnance Factories MP5
The fact that the terrorists were carrying MP5s is likely to have embarrassed Pakistan and fueled India’s rage. I would put money on the fact that those MP5s were manufactured by POF, the Pakistan government owned small arms and ammunition manufacturer. I coincidentally mentioned that POF produces licensed MP5 yesterday.
Not your standard golden AK or Dragunov. These were on display at IDEAS Pakistan 2008 by POF (Pakistan Ordnance Factories, the Pakistan stated owned arms and ammunition manufacturer).
These days it seems no defense exhibition is complete without the unveiling of a new Corner Shot clone. The Pakistan IDEAS-2008 expo, which finished today, did not disappointed!
The POF Eye was purportedly developed in only 6 months by Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF).
According to Wikipedia, there will be three variants: pistol, submachine gun and grenade launcher.
While I have always been skeptical about the usefulness of the Corner Shot concept I think a grenade launcher could be very useful, especially in police-type situations using non-lethal ammunition.
The original Corner Shot also has a 40mm grenade option as well as an “Assault Pistol” (5.56mm M16 pistol) configuration.
Pakistan joins Iran, who early this year announced a clone, and China whose clone is called the HD66 (scroll down link for photo).
Thanks to Shoaib for letting me know about the POF Eye.
These photos were taken in Pakistan. The rifle appears to be a custom job that probably came from the gun markets of Durra. It looks like a AKS-74U thats been modified.
AKS-74U
It lacks the distinctive AKS-74U cone shaped flash hider. Instead it has a standard/”basket” style flash hider, yet the flash hider does not extend past the muzzle, so it must be there for decoration. The magazine looks like it is the standard 5.45×39mm magazine.
Last week the CRS Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1999-2006 report was released. I had a bit of trouble finding it online.
Here are some interesting facts from the report:
71.5% of the value of all arms agreements worldwide were with developing nations during 2006. The 2003-2006 figure is 66.4%.
This came to a total of US$28.8 Billion. A decrease of US$3 billion since 2005.
Suppliers of arms 2006 (millions of USD) 1 United States $10,306
2 Russia $8,100
3 United Kingdom $3,100
4 Germany $1,800
5 Israel $1,300
6 Sweden $1,100
7 China $800
8 Spain $300
9 Italy $300
10 France $300
11 Poland $200
Recipients of arms 2006 (millions of USD) 1 Pakistan $5,100
2 India $3,500
3 Saudi Arabia $3,200
4 Venezuela $3,100
5 Algeria $2,100
6 Israel $2,100
7 Brazil $1,100
8 Iraq $900
9 Indonesia $600
10 South Korea $500
Browsing past rows of neatly stacked assault weapons, he settles on a .30-caliber Pakistani-made copy of a Russian pistol. After a round of friendly bargaining, the gun dealer eventually agrees to Mirzalkhel’s $30 offer. The deal is sealed with a test firing and a handshake.
In Iraq the cost of firearms will vary depending where you get them. The Multi National Security Transition Command is working hard on getting American arms into the hands of Police and Military. These are being assigned to individuals as well as collecting biometrics of those individuals. This is a pretty expensive process. Overall arms are pretty scarce on the open market. Up north and in some of the more remote regions a 9mm handgun can be had for about 20 to 45 USD. I wouldn’t expect it to be to shelf, but it will go bang. A proof firing is usually part of the deal. I don’t see that happening in the US. Buy not a bad idea.
Hi, welcome to The Firearm Blog! This blog is dedicated to all things firearm related. If you are into AR-15 and AK carbines, skeet shotguns, self defense pistols or hunting rifles then there will be something here for you. I hope you enjoy it.
I want this blog to appeal to a worldwide audience and so I will focus on firearms and shooting rather than country specific politics. There are already many great blogs defending your rights!
Hi, welcome to The Firearm Blog! This blog is dedicated to all things firearm related. If you are into AR-15 and AK carbines, skeet shotguns, self defense pistols or hunting rifles then there will be something here for you. I hope you enjoy it.
