Islamic State acquires US weapons, radios in Afghanistan after recent victories
#ISIS ‘Amaq posted photos of documents and gear of #Americansoldiers allegedly taken by ISIS fighters in#Nangarharpic.twitter.com/UDat7qOFvX
— SITE Intel Group (@siteintelgroup) 6 августа 2016 г.
The weaponry allegedly belonged to American soldiers, but no soldiers were captured in the area at the time, according to a Military Times publication.
The U.S. military command in Kabul said the soldier “has been accounted for and remains in a duty status within his unit.”
“SPC Larson was attached to a unit conducting a partnered (operation) with Afghan Forces,” US military spokesman Commander Ron Flesvig said in an emailed statement on Sunday, Reuters reports. “The soldier’s I.D. and some of the equipment were left behind after the (operation). The loss of personal identification is unfortunate.”
Among the weapons are a rocket launcher, machine gun and a number of grenades. There are also plenty of 5.56mm and 7.62mm rifle rounds intended for sniper rifles and M240 machine guns. The list further includes flak jackets, eye goggles, various body padding, tourniquets and other medical supplies.
Islamic State overtook Nangarhar with about 1,000-1,500 militants, most are believed to be former Taliban who had previously fled Pakistan.
“From the looks of all of this it appears [the perpetrators] may have hit a fixed position,” retired Marine Corp officer Fred Galvin told Military Times. “Maybe they ran across an observation post, or a site where guys were sleeping, bedding down. You can’t tell 100 percent. But it does look like someone was caught in a hasty attack. If they knew they were going to be attacked like that, they would have been wearing their body armor.”
Marine Corps veteran Shawn Snow is worried about the multi-band PRC-148 radio depicted.
“It’s one of the most commonly used portable radio systems employed by coalition and NATO forces. If ISIS has captured several of these radios, it would provide them with deadly capabilities,” he said, referring to the radio’s ability to jump frequencies and employ encryption to evade detection.
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