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CAR Report: 20 countries, including Romania, involved in Islamic State’s IEDs
* CAR's latest report, Tracing the Supply of Components used in Islamic State’s IEDs, is out. This report presents evidence from a 20-month investigation of IEDs captured from IS forces in Iraq and Syria.
The report published Thursday by the weapon research group, Conflict Armament Research (CAR), examines a sampling of the Islamic State’s improvised explosive devices (IEDs) gathered from the battlefields of Syria and Iraq, washingtonpost.com reads in its on-line edition..
The European Union-mandated study showed that 51 companies from 20 countries were involved in the trade of 700 IED components and traced them back from Turkey to the United States.
According to CAR Report, Romania is one of the 20 states.
While the report points out that all companies involved in the trade of the components did so legally, its most striking finding is how fast the items found their way into the hands of the Islamic State.
“The appearance of these components in possession of Islamic State forces, as little as one month following their lawful supply to commercial entities in the region, speaks to a lack of monitoring by national governments and companies alike,” the report says. “It may also indicate a lack of awareness surrounding the potential use of these civilian-market components by terrorist and insurgent forces.”
The report only details commercially available items, not any of the military-type explosives that might be used in tandem with the devices. The report also does not go into detail about what the purpose of these IEDs might have been used for, i.e. to destroy vehicles, maim foot patrols, etc.
Many of the items used to build IEDs are commonly found in and around construction sites and mining facilities–including detonation cord and chemical components. Yet their prevalence in seemingly benign settings hasn’t made them any less problematic. The report points to countries like Turkey and Iraq as those responsible for funneling the majority of the reports’ recorded IED material.
“Islamic State acquisition networks draw most heavily on lawful commerce in the countries that border their territory,” the report says.
A company in Romania, namely Alba Aluminiu, was providing chemical precursors.
“Documents sent by Alba Aluminiu to CAR on June 11, 2015, indicate that, on October 10, 2014, the company dispatched 792 metal drums of aluminium paste by road from Zlatna, Romania, to Çay?rova, Turkey,” reads the report.
Find the full report on http://www.conflictarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Tracing_The_Supply_of_Components_Used_in_Islamic_State_IEDs.pdf