Why open source images can be rather revealing to arms ID nerds:
South of #Kirkuk: ISIS targets "gatherings of Shiites" with a rather new mortar, rather similar to existing Yugo-derived designs.
Note that it isn't properly bedded in, meaning a "shoot and scoot" attack.
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South of #Kirkuk: ISIS targets "gatherings of Shiites" with a rather new mortar, rather similar to existing Yugo-derived designs.
Note that it isn't properly bedded in, meaning a "shoot and scoot" attack.
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Here's the mortar bombs they launched, which are also absolutely brand new. These are 81mm M91 with AZ111A2 pattern fuzes, made by Iran. As Iranian materiel is so common locally, this is no surprise.
(See an M91 w/ AZ111A2 from the MV Francop seizure back in 2009)
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(See an M91 w/ AZ111A2 from the MV Francop seizure back in 2009)
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However, I do have a question- just how are IS sourcing Iranian ammo that's clearly marked to have been made in what appears to be 2018, 2019, or 2016?
Maybe from caches, from IS' time of territorial control?
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Maybe from caches, from IS' time of territorial control?
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I don't have many examples here, but this is what mortar bombs in typical IS caches look like nowadays. Much older, and more often than not Soviet-pattern 82mm.
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I don't know the answer, but I do know of group(s) in #Iraq that are both strongly armed by Iran & that are known to be rather prone to selling materiel off.
Or maybe it was just a really nicely maintained cache? A capture they just decided not to show off? Who knows🤷♂️🤷♂️
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Or maybe it was just a really nicely maintained cache? A capture they just decided not to show off? Who knows🤷♂️🤷♂️
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