ISIL weapons,

Tens of thousands of rounds made

QARAQOSH, IRAQ // Factories churning out tens of thousands of munitions and a street turned into a conveyor belt for car bombs: advances by Iraqi forces around Mosul laid bare the scale of ISIL’s arms industry. In the more than two years since it seized control over parts of Iraq, ISIL has established a highly organised system, according to a report released yesterday by British company Conflict Armament Research. The company, which investigates arms flows around the globe, has had teams in Iraq cataloguing the extent of ISIL arms production.

“In terms of scale, planning, centralised command and control and the precision to which they are manufacturing, this is something else,” said director James Bevan.

“I can’t name another armed group that manufactures on such a scale and with such a degree of coordination.”

ISIL transformed Mart Shmony street in Qaraqosh, 16 kilo- metres south- east of Mosul, into a production line of death after seizing the town in 2014. In towns, villages and districts across the country, the pattern was repeated.

“These people are not stupid, they are very well organised,” said Iraqi army mine expert Hashim Ali. “If you give them more time then they always find ways to surprise you.”

While the raw materials for shell casings and missiles come from scrap metal and spare parts in the cities that ISIL has captured, the explosives and propellant are made from precursors – mostly procured in bulk from the open market in Turkey and diverted through Syria.

But now, as it faces increasing fragmentation with the territo- ries it controls under pressure from various offensives, the intelligence being gleaned could prove invaluable for countering its threat beyond its shrinking heartland.

“This knowledge will be critical for future efforts to counter the spread of this group,” said Mr Bevan.