European Knight
05-22-2015, 10:09 AM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11622551/Syrian-rebels-use-Nazi-weapons-in-battle-for-Idlib.html
Experts say howitzers likely looted from government stores as forces try to overcome weapon shortages
Syrian rebel forces are using Nazi-era artillery weapons, most likely looted from the stocks of President Bashar al-Assad’s army.
In a video posted online this week, fighters from the armed opposition group Ahrar al-Sham can be seen loading a dusty howitzer during an attack on Ariha, one of the last government strongholds in the northern province of Idlib.
It appeared to be the 10.5 cm (4.1in) leFH 18 model favoured by the German army during the Second World War. The weapon can fire 32lb artillery shells a distance of just under seven miles.
Nic Jenzen-Jones, the director of arms and munitions technical consultancy Armament Research Services, said: “The Syrian Army was known to operate limited numbers... It is likely that the howitzer shown was captured from a Syrian Army base or museum.
"In times of internal civil conflict, it is not uncommon to document legacy arms and munitions in the hands of combatants, especially combatants with limited access to more modern systems."
In 2012, rebel forces in Aleppo captured a cache of 5,000 StG 44s, a Nazi weapon considered to be the first modern assault rifle.
How the assault rifles fell into Syrian hands in the first place is more of a mystery. Mr Jenzen-Jones suggested they could have been donated to the Syrian army after being captured by Soviet troops on the Eastern Front during the Second World War, or perhaps handed over later by East Germany itself.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03313/472369704_3313974b.jpg
Experts say howitzers likely looted from government stores as forces try to overcome weapon shortages
Syrian rebel forces are using Nazi-era artillery weapons, most likely looted from the stocks of President Bashar al-Assad’s army.
In a video posted online this week, fighters from the armed opposition group Ahrar al-Sham can be seen loading a dusty howitzer during an attack on Ariha, one of the last government strongholds in the northern province of Idlib.
It appeared to be the 10.5 cm (4.1in) leFH 18 model favoured by the German army during the Second World War. The weapon can fire 32lb artillery shells a distance of just under seven miles.
Nic Jenzen-Jones, the director of arms and munitions technical consultancy Armament Research Services, said: “The Syrian Army was known to operate limited numbers... It is likely that the howitzer shown was captured from a Syrian Army base or museum.
"In times of internal civil conflict, it is not uncommon to document legacy arms and munitions in the hands of combatants, especially combatants with limited access to more modern systems."
In 2012, rebel forces in Aleppo captured a cache of 5,000 StG 44s, a Nazi weapon considered to be the first modern assault rifle.
How the assault rifles fell into Syrian hands in the first place is more of a mystery. Mr Jenzen-Jones suggested they could have been donated to the Syrian army after being captured by Soviet troops on the Eastern Front during the Second World War, or perhaps handed over later by East Germany itself.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03313/472369704_3313974b.jpg