Companies from 20 countries are
involved in the supply chain of components that end up in Islamic State
explosives, a study found on Thursday, suggesting governments and firms
need to do more to track the flow of cables, chemicals and other
equipment.
The European Union-mandated study showed that 51
companies from countries including Turkey, Brazil, and the United States
produced, sold or received the more than 700 components used by Islamic
State to build improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
IEDs are now being produced on a “quasi-industrial
scale” by the militant group, which uses both industrial components
that are regulated and widely available equipment such as fertiliser
chemicals and mobile phones, according to Conflict Armament Research
(CAR), which undertook the 20-month study.
Islamic State controls large swathes of Iraq and
Syria. NATO member Turkey shares borders with both countries and has
stepped up security to prevent the flow of weapons and insurgents to the
hardline Sunni group.
A total of 13 Turkish firms were found to be
involved in the supply chain, the most from any one country. That was
followed by India with seven.
“These findings support growing international
awareness that IS forces in Iraq and Syria are very much self-sustaining
- acquiring weapons and strategic goods, such as IED components,
locally and with ease,” said James Bevan, CAR’s executive director.
The sale of these cheap and readily available
parts, some of which are not subject to government export licences, is
far less scrutinised and regulated than the transfer of weapons.
The study found that Islamic State is able to
acquire some components in as a little as a month after their lawful
supply to firms in the region, suggestion a lack of oversight in the
supply chain.
“Companies having effective accounting systems to
establish where the goods went after them would act as a deterrent,”
Bevan said.
‘Refused to cooperate’
Bevan said the Turkish government refused to
cooperate with CAR’s investigation so the group was not able to
determine the efficacy of Ankara’s regulations regarding the tracking of
components.
Turkish government officials did not reply to requests for comment.
CAR gained access to the components through
partners including the Washington-backed Kurdish YPG in Syria, the Iraqi
Federal Police, the Kurdistan Region Security Council and forces of the
Kurdistan Regional Government.
The components were recovered during major battles
around the Iraqi towns of al Rabia, Kirkuk, Mosul, and Tikrit and the
Syrian town of Kobani.
The report’s authors said they attempted to
contact the companies linked to the components, adding the firms did not
respond or were not able to account for where the goods went after they
left their custody.
Seven Indian companies manufactured most of the
detonators, detonating cords, and safety fuses documented by CAR. Those
were all legally exported under government-issued licences from India to
entities in Lebanon and Turkey, CAR found.
Companies from Brazil, Romania, Russia, the
Netherlands, China, Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic were also
involved, the report found.
Reuters
