Tag: Jabhat al-Nusra

Islamic State development & employment of SVBIEDs

Kenton Fulmer The suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) is broadly considered to have served as the makeshift ‘precision guided munition’ (PGM) of Islamist extremists for the last decade, with their frequent and effective use in the tactical operations of the Islamic State (IS) serving to highlight the phenomenon in the media. Due to the decisive

Continue Reading

Iranian RU-series thermal weapon sights in Syria

Galen Wright Update 151106: Another Twitter post from yesterday shows a brief video of materiel allegedly captured by fighters aligned with Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria. In addition to the Sadad 102 thermal imager mentioned below, other items seen include mortars, what appears to be an Iranian SPG-9-type recoilless gun, an Iranian AM50 anti-materiel rifle, a DShKM-type heavy machine

Continue Reading

Russian MRO-A thermobaric rocket launchers in Syria

N.R. Jenzen-Jones A video posted to YouTube on 29 October 2015 shows two Russian-made MRO-A rocket launchers and a Soviet or Russian RPO-A recoilless weapon. According to the video, the weapons were captured by Ajnad al-Sham from Syrian government positions near Skaik village, in Hama governorate. Markings on one of the MRO-A launch tubes indicate

Continue Reading

US M240 GPMG seen with Jabhat al-Nusra fighter in Syria

Michael Smallwood An image posted to Twitter yesterday appears to show a Jabhat al-Nusra fighter in Syria wielding a United States-made M240 series general-purpose machine gun (GPMG), purportedly taken from the US-equipped Free Syrian Army’s Division 30. It is likely to be either an upgraded M240B or an M240L. The M240L was only type classified

Continue Reading

Jabhat al-Nusra re-purposing SPBE and AO-2.5RT submunitions in Syria

Kenton Fulmer Unexploded Russian and Soviet-made submunitions have been documented across the Syrian countryside since the arrival of Russian forces last month. While both the intended destructive impact and prolonged danger of unexploded ordnance (UXO) are well understood results of cluster munitions use, a lesser seen impact is the re-purposing of munitions that have failed

Continue Reading

US Mk 14 EBR allegedly seized by Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria

Update 150926: A release yesterday from US CENTCOM has stated that the image of the rifle was taken while in the possession of Division 30, making it unlikely that it had in fact been seized by Jabhat al-Nusra. However, CENTCOM did confirm earlier reports that claimed some US-trained and equipped fighters had surrendered materiel to Jabhat al-Nusra, including

Continue Reading

Captured TOW 2A missiles employed in Syria

Michael Smallwood Following news of US-made TOW 2A anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) missile tubes being captured by Jabhat al-Nusra (or the Nusra front) from Harakat Hazzm last month, new videos uploaded in recent weeks show Jabhat al-Nusra militants employing these systems against armoured vehicles near Idlib city, Syria. With recent heavy fighting in Idlib, these advanced

Continue Reading

Update: TOW 2A anti-tank guided weapons in Syria

Sam Baartz Almost a year ago, ARES reported on the appearance of US-made TOW 2A anti-tank guided weapons (ATGW)  in Syria. In service with several anti-government groups, the TOW systems were primarily documented in the hands of the so-called ‘moderate Syrian rebels’. Since then, there have been dozens of appearances of these systems. The TOW series of ATGWs were originally

Continue Reading