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Iraqi Sunni insurgents seize huge cache of US-made arms and equipment

A MASSIVE cache of US-supplied weapons including vehicles, tanks and helicopters has fallen into the hands of Iraqi militants.

Jamie SeidelJamie Seidel
@JamieSeidel
2 min read
June 13, 2014 - 8:46AM
News Corp Australia Network
Captured Iraqi Troops paraded through Tikrit

THE fall of the city of Mosul to Iraqi militants has landed them a deadly windfall — a massive cache of US-supplied weapons including vehicles, tanks and helicopters.

The Iraq government forces abandoned their arms and ammunition as they fled the horde of Sunni gunmen streaming into the war-torn nation’s second largest city earlier this week.

Most of that equipment was supplied by the United States.

It was supposed to give Iraqi government forces a technological edge over their tribesman opponents as US troops withdrew following their 2003 invasion.

Much of that edge is now in enemy hands.

The Sunni extremists have routed the US trained and equipped military in Smarra, Falluja and now Mosul — overrunning bases and seizing weapons and equipment.

Tanks. Humvees. Trucks. Even US-supplied Blackhawk and scout/combat helicopters may have fallen into extremist hands.

That bounty is set to baloon with unconfirmed reports that a huge regional training and support military base - and its airfield - at Habbaniyah has fallen to rebels.

But as images emerge of the captured hoard, questions are also being raised about the generally poor state of the vehicles.

Images of a compound full of the iconic US Humvee vehicle reveal most are in a poor state of repair, with many stripped of key components for spares.

Was there any follow-up support once the guns, cars and tanks were handed over?

Some of the abandoned gear still does work.

Disturbingly, many members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) know how to use it.

The Iraqi military has long been riddled with double-agents and undercover militants. Many may have benefited from US-sponsored training sessions.

These were supposed to be the elite spearhead which carved up any remaining separatists after the US withdrawal.

Instead, they appear to have melted into the desert as the new uprising grew teeth.

Some reports suggests that US-built vehicles are now being seen operating in Syria against President Assad’s forces.

What implication does this hold now that the first of 36 F-16 fighter jets are due to arrive in Iraq in coming months? There are only eight trained Iraqi pilots so far.

But some Iraqi military units have had their M1 Abrams main battle tanks delivered.

The battle lanes are drawn. And ISIL finds itself strengthened by success.

“March toward Baghdad because there we have an account to settle,” ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani urged followers.

And he hopes to cash-in that account with some of the billions of dollars of US equipment left behind after the Iraq wars, and spent on propping up government forces.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/world/iraqi-sunni-insurgents-seize-huge-cache-of-usmade-arms-and-equipment/news-story/4dc84c11acc516dca006104674fb47ab