Militants' possession of Israeli arms raises questions

ISLAMABAD – Use of Israeli-made light arms by militants against security forces in Waziristan has raised several questions amongst many recently.
TheNation has learnt on good authority that militants are using Israeli-made light arms including “Uzi gun” and “Rapid-fire pistol” against security forces in North Waziristan as the operation Rah-I-Rast reached its final stage.
In addition to Israel-made sophisticated arms, militants are making use of the latest version of US-made M-16 carbine with laser designator and binoculars, Bulgarian and Czechoslovakia made Kalakov and M-4 carbine with a grenade launcher and laser designator, which is a unique weapon with the US marines.
Availability of sophisticated Israeli weapons within the militant’s ranks and their use against security forces has raised several eyebrows in Islamabad.
But not only the militants are in possession of such type of deadly weapons but they are easily accessible by the common people of Pakistan, especially in Punjab.
As a matter of fact, the war on terrorism in Afghanistan has brought state-of-the-art foreign-made lethal weapons to Pakistan’s arms markets in the tribal areas and other parts of the country.
At a time when militants equipped with US, European, and Israeli-made deadly weapons are offering resistance to the Army, these sophisticated weapons are attracting buyers from across the country, particularly Punjab. Apart from foreign-made weapons, Wah Factory manufactured MP-5 rifle pieces are also available in Dara market.
A source in the Wazir Dand arms market, Khyber Agency claimed “a slain Afghan commander, belonging to eastern Nangarhar, sold 300 pieces of M-16 rifles in Landi Kotal” a year and half earlier. These rifles are in the possession of militants, especially the Uzbeks and Tajiks, are being used intensively against security forces.