Daesh has been producing weapons on a scale and sophistication which matches national military forces and has standardized production across their self-styled caliphate, an arms monitoring group says.
Conflict Armament Research (CAR) said the terror group had a “robust supply chain” of raw materials from Turkey, and the technical precision of its work meant that it could not be described as “improvised” weapons production.
“Although production facilities employ a range of non-standard materials and chemical explosive precursors, the degree of organization, quality control, and inventory management indicates a complex, centrally controlled industrial production system,” it said in a report following visits last month to six facilities once operated by Daesh in eastern Mosul.
CAR, which identifies and tracks weapons and ammunitions in conflicts, said the facilities it visited were part of a system producing weapons according to precise guidelines issued by a central authority.
Production included a monitoring system with regular, detailed reports on production rates and quality that helped ensure standardization — usually to the tenth of a millimeter — across the terrorists’ once sprawling territory in Iraq and neighboring Syria.
“Mortar rounds manufactured in one part of Daesh forces’ territory are calibrated to fit mortar tubes produced in facilities located elsewhere,” the report said.
Standardization required consistency in the supply of source materials, the report said, achieved through a major acquisition network in neighboring Turkey and a supply chain extending from that country, through Syria, to Mosul.
In addition to technical advantages of standardization, CAR said Islamic State sought to mirror the functions of a national military force in a bid to “legitimize the group’s capacity and coherence in the eyes of its fighters.”
The monitor also said documents it had seen in Mosul suggested Daesh had provided its fighters with sophisticated instructions on making and planting improvised explosive devices as well as the operation of complex weapons systems, such as anti-tank guided missiles.

Source: Arab News