WEAPON SUPPLIES FUELLING TERRORISM IN THE LAKE CHAD CRISIS

In 2019 CAR investigators travelled to the Diffa region of south-eastern Niger to document weapons and ammunition seized from terrorist groups operating in the areas around Lake Chad. In this Dispatch from the Field, CAR provides a first systematic assessment of the origins and supply sources of some of the illicit weaponry deployed by militants affiliated with Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (the Sunni Muslim Group for Preaching and Jihad, or JAS)—more commonly referred to as Boko Haram—and the emergent Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

MÉCANISMES D’APPROVISIONNEMENT EN ARMES DES MOUVEMENTS TERRORISTES ACTIFS DANS LA CRISE DU LAC TCHAD

En 2019 les chercheurs de CAR se sont rendus dans la région de Diffa dans le sud-est du Niger pour documenter des armes et des munitions saises à des des groupes djihadistes œuvrant dans les régions autour du lac Tchad. La présente dépêche fournit la première étude systématique sur les origines de certaines des armes illicites déployées par les militants affiliés au Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) – plus couramment connu sous le nom de Boko Haram – et l’État Islamique en Afrique de l’Ouest (EIAO).

NIGERIA’S HERDER-FARMER CONFLICT

This dispatch presents the first field-based study of small arms and ammunition used by armed groups and communities in northern Nigeria’s herder-farmer conflicts. It identifies weapons diverted from state stockpiles across the Sahel and trafficked into Nigeria through long-range organised criminal networks.

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DIVERSION DIGEST – ISSUE 1

This first edition of CAR’s Diversion Digest presents a statistical analysis of how weapons diversion occurs. It looks at more than a thousand cases where weapons and ammunition have been captured, lost, stolen or otherwise diverted to illicit actors, and considers how the international Arms Trade Treaty might address these main causes of diversion.

INVESTIGATING CROSS-BORDER WEAPON TRANSFERS IN THE SAHEL

This report is the product of field investigations conducted over ten months, in eight countries, to reveal sources of weapons for armed groups and Islamist fighters across North and West Africa. It identifies a network of Sahelian trafficking routes stretching as far afield as Syria, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire.

ENQUÊTE SUR LES TRANSFERTS D’ARMES TRANSFRONTALIERSAU SAHEL

«Ce rapport est le fruit d’enquêtes de terrain menées pendant plus de dix mois, dans huit pays, afin de révéler les sources d’armement des groupes armés et des combattants islamistes en Afrique du Nord et de l’Ouest. Le rapport identifie un réseau de routes de trafic sahélienqui s’étend jusqu’en Syrie, le Mali et la Côte d’Ivoire».

DISTRIBUTION OF IRANIAN AMMUNITION IN AFRICA

This report documents six years of collaborative investigations into the distribution of Iranian ammunition in Africa. It is the first comprehensive study of Iran’s weapon ‘footprint’ on the continent.

Focusing on nine African states, it identifies Iranian-manufactured ammunition in service with government forces and a variety of non-state entities, including foreign-backed insurgents, rebel forces, Islamist-oriented armed groups, and warring civilian communities.

REBEL FORCES IN NORTHERN MALI

A co-publication with the Small Arms Survey, Geneva, the report documents weapons, ammunition, and related materiel in service with rebel forces in Mali during the 2012–13 conflict.

The report identifies 41 weapon and ammunition types, ranging from small-calibre ammunition to major conventional armaments and military vehicles.