#Kurds

The bloody battle for the Syrian city of Raqqa has been since been won by the Kurdish Peshmerga with U.S. support. But while it was raging, we wrote about the Polish volunteer fighting with the Peshmerga with a public name and Facebook book title of Archer. After getting in touch with the individual, he was able to submit to TFB a number of photographs of his small teams inventory along with some actual feedback on the small arms used.

News footage from a Kurdistan24 television crew, and overhead drone footage taken from a so-called Islamic State propaganda video both show a so-called IS attack in the Syrian city of Raqqa, where Kurdish SDF forces are battling the rebel group with the support of the United States. Driving heavily armed SVBIEDs (Suicide Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device) into enemy positions is one of the most deadly tactics of the group in the current conflicts of Syria and Iraq. A study from the Combating Terrorism Center at the United States Military Academy at West Point highlighted the fact that the so-called Islamic State was using as many as fourteen SVBIEDs a day in the Mosul fight against Iraqi forces.

The State Department and Department of Defense have announced a planned sale of almost $300 million of defense materials through the Republic of Iraq to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Peshmerga. The article specifically states that the deal is to equip two infantry battalions and two supporting artillery battalions of Peshmerga troops. Although this isn’t a U.S. Army T/O complete Brigade Combat Team (Or U.S. Marine equivalent Battalion Landing Team), the equipment numbers marry up perfectly with similar amounts in the U.S. Army, practically stripping this Peshmerga unit of anything other than Infantry and supporting artillery assets. Case in point is the amount of Colt M16A4s (Colt mentioned as being one of the suppliers) being ordered with a number of 4,400 rifles. A T/O complete U.S. Army Brigade Combat Team has an authorized strength of 4,413 soldiers, essentially on the dot of what the Peshmerga one will be. In addition the M16A4s, the planned order also specifies 46 .50 BMG M2s, and 186 M240B medium machine guns as far as small arms are concerned. I’m sure there are handgun allotments, possibly Glock 19s thrown in but too insignificant to be mentioned in the article. Of course, a number of armored vehicles and 105mm howitzers are within the bounds of the sale as well.

According to the National Post, the Canadian government will begin supplying elements of the Kurdish Peshmerga in Iraq with small arms and light weapons. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously announced Canadian material support for the Peshmerga a year ago, but only recently made good on the promise this month. Germany has a history of supplying small arms to the Kurds, but recently stopped according to the article, after German rifles were found for sale on the Iraqi black market. Both countries are currently providing much training and support through troops deployed to the region, but this is the first official announcement that Canada would be providing material. From the National Post-

Medium.com has a very interesting blog post about a Kurdish gunsmith …

There is an interesting video on LiveLeak (embedded below) showing Kurdish snipers in North Syria clearing out an al-Qaeda-linked rebel group from a Kurdish village. The four snipers are using identical .50 caliber rifles that are either completely hand made or at least partially hand made.

New propaganda photos from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) show insurgents showing off their new rifles. The rifles appear to be chambered in a large anti-material caliber, possibly .50 BMG or 14.5x114mm Russian.