Yesterday I wrote about a Chadian solider with a tricked out AKM. I suspected the solider may have belonged to a special forces group. It turns out he is a member of the FAS (Forces Armées et de Sécurité), an elite group of desert warfare commandoes. That AK configuration is standard issue for FAS troops. Seth wrote in the comments …

It’s standard issue in FAS (Forces Armées et de Sécurité, Chad military) commandos, which, unlike Malians, are both well trained, highly mobile and are extremely experienced in desert warfare (the tale as how they infiltrated an Qaddafi column with a handful of their own vehicles a couple years back under the cover of a sand storm, wreak havoc and destroyed the whole unit is a famous one in some circles).