The recent and hasty withdrawal of the United States Armed Forces from the country of Afghanistan has been somewhat of a controversy. Many say that the withdrawal of US forces was irresponsible while others are lauding the decision as a step towards a more peaceful [Read More…]
In what would certainly make the gun makers of Darra Adam Khel blush with professional embarrassment, a recent so-called Islamic State of Khurasan (IS entity in eastern Afghanistan) propaganda video showed fighters of the group engaging enemy Taliban fighters with a [Read More…]
In a recent propaganda video released by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Report Number 190 to be precise), a 7.62x51mm NATO MK 17 SCAR was spotted over the course of the propaganda video. Of course, there is nothing new about this development, we’ve covered [Read More…]
The ability to execute complex operations in conditions of low light or complete darkness has been an asset unique to NATO militaries since the 1990s when fighting against local insurgencies. Often within planning sessions for OIF, OEF, or the current Resolute Support [Read More…]
Although the Russian Kalashnikov assault rifle is the one that is most famous, it is arguably the Chinese Type 56 AK that made the bigger impression on the world in the 1960s and 70s. This rifle was initially developed with Russian technical assistance just before the [Read More…]
Recent experience in Afghanistan, coupled with concerns about the effectiveness of the M4 Carbine – and perhaps also just a general long-term swing of the pendulum – has spurred many to advocate for a new configuration of infantry weapon centered around [Read More…]
The Taliban have been on the move recently, capturing an Afghanistan National Army District Headquarters in a recent battle. Footage of the battle show a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs, or Humvees) and FN SCAR-Heavy rifle in use by the fighters, [Read More…]
C.J. Chivers has published photos on the NY Times and his personal blog of weapons captured in Afghanistan. It is a good to see that either the Taliban do not have the resources to purchase new firearms or they do not have the ability to supply new firearms to frontline [Read More…]
With the poor condition that captured AK-47s are found, you could be forgiven for thinking the Afghans do not pay much attention to their rifles. Apparently they are very much into the “latest” gear and AK-74 are very much in demand, despite that they cost [Read More…]
StrategyPage has a article about the resurgence of Lee-Enfield rifles in Afghanistan and use against NATO troops: Afghan traditionalists are changing the way the Taliban fight. This can be seen by the increase in the use of sniping by the Taliban. In the last year, NATO [Read More…]