The German woman was becoming a real pain. I knew we were in trouble when I saw her Birkenstock sandals. CPL Pat Cooper had rendered initial first aid to the German relief worker, while I carried another woman away from the road accident. Their Land Rover hit a roadblock, went off the road and flipped over right after passing our three vehicle convoy. We were enroute to Mogadishu from a 10th Mountain division camp near Marka at a high rate of speed because darkness was falling. CPT Dan Dobrolwski, 513th MI Brigade, quickly organized a perimeter. Although an MI officer. ‘Ski and I had both been rifle platoon leaders in the 2d Infantry Division on the Korean DMZ in ’86 and he quickly slipped back into the combat troop leader mode, commandeering an M60 machine gun and organizing vehicle shakedowns of civilian traffic entering our perimeter which crowned the roadway. Within five minutes there was a crowd of about 100 civilians lining the road. We waited for assistance that never came.

Before we pulled out to medevac the relief workers ourselves an English aid worker asked me what should be done with the weapon. Weapon? Sure enough, with all the khat chewing Somalis milling around there was a loaded G-3 laying atop the vehicle’s underside. I hastily cleared the rifle and shoved it at him telling him, “here take this, sling it muzzle down and whatever you do, don’t play with the damn thing.”

It was not the first G-3 I’d seen in the past few weeks. There were weapons all over the country. Everywhere I went there was an arms room filled with the same hodgepodge assortment of small arms captured from the local thugs. The captured, confiscated, or voluntarily surrendered weapons were predominately Kalashnikov’s as most Somali “gun men” were armed with Kalashnikov’s. I can’t endorse the Kalashnikov enough as an all-around great battle rifle for the African continent. It is ideally suited for the harsh field conditions in desert and bush environments of the Dark Continent where operator maintenance is minimal and old crankcase oil or goat fat frequently suffices for weapons lubricant. The simplistic, robust design of the Sergeant Mikhail T. Kalashnikov’s perfect peasant rifle is just the ticket for arming a bunch of illiterate, primitive tribesmen who’ve never handled anything more technologically advanced than a transistor radio. Some of these people still believe that setting a sight on a longer range increases the hitting power of the bullet. Explaining trajectory and bullet drop is akin to teaching quantum physics. While AK’s , M-16s, and G-3’s were the most common weapons I saw in Somalia there was also a wide assortment of weapons laying about including at least one example of the more common European small arms made in this century.

SGT Jako from the 10th Mountain Division S-2 (Intelligence) shop in Kismayo showed me inside the locked CONEX container where they kept a stash of captured weaponry. I almost burst into tears at the sight of badly rusted Thompson .45 submachine guns destined for the demolitions pit, knowing that even in their rough, used condition the venerable Chicago Pianos were a collectors dream. There were also stockpiles of heavily used PPSh-41s. I would guess that the stocks of both these submachine guns had been idle for some time due to ammunition shortage. While both are considered long obsolete in modern military armories they are serviceable and dependable weapons found yet in the world’s backwaters. I saw both weapons fielded later that year (1993) in Bosnia and to good effect. A heavy World War II era submachine gun may not be on par with a modern assault rifle, but in combat it sure beats throwing rocks.

In the corner beyond the Thompson’s was another “obsolete” American weapon, a very pristine M14. No doubt there were a few USMC vets of the Southeast Asia Wargames back at MARFOR headquarters who would’ve appreciated this robust weapon. I carried an M-14 (actually an M-21 sniping rifle with ART-2) in combat as late as 1986, and think it is a fine weapon. A really interesting find was a Smith and Wesson 1917 service revolver, the one chambered for .45 Long Colt but used with the .45 ACP and half moon clips. Strangely enough it had a short snub nosed barrel. The finish was 100% and the grips were pristine. It looked like it was boxed out of the factory yesterday. I am still mystified as to how it escaped damage in the sandy wastes of Somalia. Large numbers of M-16s were previously provided to Somalia by the U.S. government when Said Barre’s regime was considered a bulwark against Mengistu’s Marxist government in Ethiopia. Ironically some of our troops came under fire from these weapons with significant numbers being captured and confiscated.

It seemed like there was one of everything. SKS carbines were piled on top of M-1 Garands which leaned against Mannlicher-Carcanos, flanked by Czech LMGs and rusting Mausers. Besides the G-3s there were also a few MG 42s. The myriad collection of weapons bespoke Somalia’s tortured path on its way from feudal state to nationhood and back to tribal chaos. I noted a few .303 Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifles. Millions of these rifles were made in England, the U.S. (by Savage Arms Co.). Canada, Australia and India. These were undoubtedly left behind in British Somaliland, used in Orde Wingate’s Abyssinia campaign, or issued during the post-war protectorate. The British ruled all of Somalia after the war until the Italians returned as the UN trustees in 1950. Somalia being a former Italian colony there were large quantities of Italian weapons. Several examples of the Beretta Model 38/42 submachine gun (differing from the 38A by its lack of a cooling jacket) were captured in Kismayo. The precision machining and finishing on the pre-war Model 38A’s was eliminated during the war to ease the manufacturing process. But, even with a stamped tubular receiver it proved to be a reliable and robust submachine gun. I know of only one reference to the Breda Model 1935PG 6.5mm rifles. The Breda was a substandard rifle built for export in the late 1930’’ ( a 7mm variant was sold to Costa Rica in 1937) and many were shipped to Ethiopia. I kept my eye out for one of these rifles. I have yet to even find a photo of one and am beginning to think it is a chimera. The bolt-action 6.5mm M91 Carcano rifles and carbines, however, were well represented with hundreds of examples, mostly in poor to junk condition. With the wide availability of various select fire weapons, especially Kalashnikov’s, I assume most were carried by herdsmen. Interestingly, it was this area of the world where it was determined there was a need for a larger caliber replacement for the 6.5mm. It was in the course of their campaign to subdue Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia defended by Spear carrying tribesmen that the Italians decided the 6.5mm was not enough of a man-stopper. The 7.35mm cartridge was introduced but with the advent of World War II the Italians thought it unwise to switch calibers and most of the 7.35mm Carcanos (M1938) were sold to Finland. Some were re-barrelled with 6.5mm barrels by the Italians. Near the end of World War II limited quantities of these weapons were re-chambered for 7.92mm Mauser. The Germans, who were pressing anything that launched a bullet into service, re-designated the 6.5mm rifles as the Gew 209(I) and the 7.35mm rifles as Gew 231(I) and rebored them for 7.92mm. Due to the increase chamber pressures generated by the 7.92mm Mauser cartridge it is unsafe to fire these weapons. I also saw several M59 Beretta rifles, in my opinion, one of the better Italian made weapons. When the U.S. adopted the M-14 the Italians decided to adapt its M-1 Garand (made under license by Beretta). The resulting weapon was an M-1 chambered to fire the NATO 7.62 round, modified to fire bursts, and fitted with a 20-round magazine and a grenade launcher / muzzle brake.

Later, back in Mogadishu I had the opportunity to examine a Breda Model 30 Italian Light Machine Gun.. The Breda, although one of the first machine gun made with a quick change barrel and, while exhibiting excellent workmanship, was a badly flawed design. A delayed blowback operating gun with a recoiling barrel (like the Italian 1914 Revelli) it has a large bolt with multiple locking lugs. The magazine is permanently attached and is loaded with a twenty-round “horse-shoe” charger of brass or cardboard. On top of the receiver is an oilpan and pump. Because of faulty loading and ejecting inherent in its design, weapons oil is injected onto the rounds and they’re fed through the side loading fixed-box magazine. It obviously didn’t fare too well in the sandy wastes of Ethiopia and Libya.. leading to the old joke about the Italian Army making better shoes than machineguns. When ‘Ski and I disassembled the weapon, which was in remarkably immaculate condition, we found the parts were serial numbered and they all matched. This was a museum quality piece. We attempted to arrange for its shipment to the U.S., but to no avail. It would be destroyed like several other museum pieces, including some priceless Wilkinson sabers which went into the demolition pit with everything else.

Large quantities of captured/confiscated weapons were shipped to the Embassy Compound where they were destroyed. Unfortunately the preponderance of weaponry was tempting. An Army lieutenant was arrested attempting to ship home an AK-47. A few troops I talked to displayed their “drop guns” – pistols such as Lugers, WWII-era Berettas, and Baby Brownings —acquired in Somalia and carried for personal protection or to insure they could produce captured weapons from dead bodies after a fire fight if needed. It’s too bad our troops worried as much about surviving the Monday Morning quarterbacks as they did surviving combat patrols. Despite the availability of many suitable weapons the well-deserving soldiers and marines of Operation Restore Hope were restricted from bringing home a legal war trophy.

Some of the people who justly deserved a war trophy were the U.S. Marines (India Battery, 3/11) who manned several of the camouflage net covered sandbag outposts guarding the Embassy’s outer wall and the main outer gate to the U.S. Embassy Compound. I spent a little time wandering around the perimeter and getting to know the leathernecks responsible for the security of my work site and the area where I slept (quite comfortably) in a GP Medium tent. The positions were all 2-man positions which included night vision devices and an M249 SAW (squad automatic weapon). While some automatic weapons positions had range cards others did not; it seemed to be a gunner prerogative rather than a result of SOP (standard operating procedures) or orders from their tactical small unit leaders. Then again some had non-existent fields of fire and most of the marines I spoke to eschewed the M249 SAW, citing inaccuracy. They preferred their M16A2’s..”every Marine a rifleman.” Fine with me as I always knew where to find a squad automatic, and I much prefer a SAW or an M60 to a “16 any day. From their outpost on the Embassy wall’s southwest corner they had a good view of a Somalia “prison.” Nighttime executions were a common event with the Marines holding front row seats … no tickets required. LCPL Jessie Nunez told me he engaged a Somali armed with an RPG crawling over the Embassy wall just across the street from this “prison.” Despite the occasional “sniper” rounds thudding into their sandbags and the nightly spectacle of nearby Somali versus Somali firefights they spent most of their day shifts bored by routine and harassed by Somalis begging for food.

Perimeter security and reaction teams were handled by these marines and personnel from Force Service Support Group guard force. Additionally there were sniper posts located on top of various buildings in the compound as well as on K-7, a building outside the Embassy – considered key terrain because of its commanding height and fields of fire. Marines (artillerymen from Echo Battery 2/12 Marines) attached to the 3/11 Marines also performed mounted and dismounted patrols outside the Embassy and the airfield.

At approximately 0130 10 January, 1993, a fifteen man patrol traveling in Humvees spotted what appeared to be armed Somalis, the patrol dismounted near K-7. Moving stealthily down the alleyway while hugging the walls they were fired upon by an unknown number of Somalis. Going to ground most of the patrol quickly burned off some rounds, but the whole firefight was over quickly; the lieutenant screaming ceasefire before some of the Marines were even able to fire their weapons. The snipers from K-7 engaged multiple targets using either a .50 Barrett or a Remington 700, (no one would confirm which) and claimed two kills (later confirmed). The patrol accounted for another confirmed and a probable. Marines I spoke to remarked favorably on both weapons.

U.S. weapons which saw the most duty in Somalia were the M16A2 – which performed well, but required more attention in keeping out sand than other weapons – and the Beretta M92F 9mm pistol: not as well liked as its forebear the trustworthy and easy to use M1911A1 .45 ACP. I had opportunity to carry Colt and Beretta pistols in Somalia, but not the weapons mentioned. I was alternately armed with a Colt Officer’s model .45 ACP and an Egyptian “Helwan” copy of the 1951 Beretta 9mm. The .45 began jamming on me due (I believe) to the temperature change affecting the Blazer CCI hollowpoints I was loading. While my Pakistani 9mm ammo worked okay the Helwan’s eight-shot single-stack magazine was next to useless. It continually filled with sand, despite my best efforts to keep it clean. Pistols became a problem for many in Somalia. I saw a female naval officer (an 0-6 Captain, if I remember correctly) fumble with her pistol. She had wrangled a trip ashore and a “joy ride” through Mogadishu. Both her and the male subordinate accompanying her were so fat and out of shape they had problems climbing into the back of a 2 1/2 ton truck. She had to be helped to load her pistol. There were too many of such “officers” and not enough “shooters.” Lieutenant colonels and majors literally swarmed about the Embassy compound, all moving with that air of brisk, self-important military efficiency inherent to minor staff officers. All off to carry out some obscure staff function in an office identified with a string of acronymal letters. I have never before seen so many field grade officers in such a concentrated space. I think they outnumbered the grunts. Because most of these staff types all carried pistols there was a clearing barrel at the inner wall of the Embassy compound. A sign said, “No Negligent Discharges (or You will Fry!)” A reference to the consequences of any less-than-mundane action in the modern zero-defects army. A scorecard was kept on a piece of MRE cardboard and identified negligent discharges (they are no longer considered “accidents”) by service and country. It was removed at the behest of some colonel. The numbers were beginning to look embarrassing anyway.

Since the Somalia mission was a UN operation there were troops from all over the world: Sweden, France, Canada, Italy, Botswana, Morocco, and Pakistan – to name just a few. Of course all the contingents were armed with their own national weapons. While some, like the Botswanans and Moroccans, carried weapons purchased from other countries, most carried native manufactured weapons. The intelligence unit I was working with shared a building, the old library annex, in the outer Embassy compound with some Australians. Over 900 Australians (wearing those funny looking hats) were deployed in support of Restore Hope, and took over U.S. responsibilities in Baidoa. For the Australians it was the largest deployment of Aussie troops since their participation in the Vietnam war. Although their officers were equipped with well-worn Browning 9mm Hi-Powers the diggers were carrying brand spankin’ new AUG variants.

One of the most significant changes in Australian Defence Force (ADF) weaponry had just come about. After extensive test trials the Australian Government armed its troops with a new small arms weapons system designed to serve the ADF into the 21st century: the Austrian 5.56mm Steyr AUG (Armee Universal Gewehr) “bullpup”. The Austeyr (Australian Steyr) is manufactured under license in Australia with three models in production: the Austeyr F88, the Austeyr F88-C (Carbine) with a barrel 4” or 100mm shorter than the standard F88 rifle, and the Austeyr F88-S which lacks the integral 1.5 power sight, allowing the mounting of the AN/PVS-4 Night Vision Sight. Some of the Aussies commented that they’d prefer to have their SLRs or M-16s rather than the Austeyr. A female MP I spoke to liked it because of its shorter length and perception of lighter weight.

A few days after the Australian contingent was reinforced I went up to Baidoa as they were taking over the mission there and I watched some Aussies prep for a patrol. Along with some inquisitive Diggers I inspected some captured “technical” vehicles (pickup trucks with machine guns on improvised mounted) at Baidoa. Besides the usual shot-up Toyota trucks (one of which mounted a 106 mm recoiless) were a Flat 6614 APC (which mounts a 12.7mm machine gun) and a Detroit built truck mounting an AA gun. The technicals were captured by the 15th MEU USMC. The one mounted with a recoiless was used to kill 25 civilians and painted on the side was a slogan in Somali, which translated as, “We must Kill and Loot, Nobody will survive when we attack.” Another “technical” was emblazoned: “Ruthlessness and Gold in my Religion.” The next day one of the diggers in Baidoa discharged his Austeyr in the back of a vehicle. The round struck the barrel of his mate’s Austeyr splintering the round and wounding two others with the fragments.

After visiting the Aussies in Baidoa it only seemed logical to check out the Belgians in Kismayo, a port city south of Mogadishu, where Somali workers unload grain shipments. I flew into the air-strip there where 10th Mountain Division troops on top of the terminal building watched the access road to Kismayo airport and the troop barracks in the terminal building. The security detachment was well armed with M16s, M203s, a Mk 19 grenade launcher, as well as an M24 sniper rifle. The access road was blocked with 55-gallon drums filled with rocks and sand. The security detachment had a stand off distance of a few hundred yards to engage any “suicide car bomber.” No more Beirut’s. Designed for possible future conversion to .300 Winchester Magnum the M24 was built around the M118 Special Ball 7.62mm NATO “sniper” cartridge and on the Remington Arms commercial M70 long bolt action and the M40 custom trigger. The M24 Sniper Weapon system (including a Leopold Ultra M3 10X sighting telescope) was first issued in 1987 and was soon fielded to all infantry, ranger, and special forces units. It accounted itself well in Panama and later in the Persian Gulf.

When I helicoptered into Kismayo I noticed a flurry of activity. The Belgian paratroopers at the port had taken casualties in a flurry of grenade attacks in the past 24 hours. On the ride through town the driver of the Humvee tossed me his M16, but happily the trip was uneventful. The paratroopers wearing maroon berets with SAS “Who Dares Wins” cap badges and armed with FNC 80 Para folding stock carbines (and little else) had encountered an ambush just a few hours before. A Belgian Paratrooper I chatted with showed me the shrapnel wounds dotting his leg received in the ambush earlier. The doc had simply dug out the frags, gave him some aspirin, swabbed the holes with mercurochrome, and sent him back to duty to monitor patrol reports. Another had been wounded in the top of the head while firing from the prone – a preventable injury if Lee Paras had worn helmets. The FNC 80 is a good weapon for paratroops with its folding metal stock with rubber buttplate. Unlike many other FN rifles the recoil spring is in the piston rod assembly.

Just a few years previous to the United Nations intervention in Somalia the Italians, the former colonial masters of Somalia, were armed with a variety of weapons including the Beretta 12S 9mm submachine gun, the BM59 series of rifles, the 5.56mm AR70/.223 assault rifle made by Pietro Beretta SpA, and the SC70, the folding stock carbine version of the AR70/.223. While sold in limited numbers to Jordan and Malaysia, the AR70 (resembling the SIG 530-1 externally) and SC70 “special troops carbine” was fielded solely by Italian special operations forces. The development of the AR70/90 was prompted by defects in the design of the AR 70 and after the Italian Army announced competitive trials for a new service rifle in 1984 Beretta produced the AR70/90 in 1985 and introduced it into service in 1990. So the Italians were carrying rifles that had only been in their inventory for 2-3 years.

French Foreign Legionnaires, many from the garrison in nearby Djibouti, in their berets, short-shorts, and sunglasses were easily recognized by their FA-MAS (Fusil Automatique – Manufacture d’ Armees de St. Etienne) 5.56mm bullpup rifles. Called Le Clarion (the bugle) by the French troops because of its unconventional design, it is a good infantry weapon, especially suited to accurate fire from the prone position with its 25-round magazine and integral bipod. The short overall length (30”) also makes it ideal for vehicle mounted troops. The French were the first to field a bullpup rifle, and unlike subsequent bullpup rifles (the Steyr AUG and British L85A1) the FA-MAS is the only one which allows rapid reconfiguration to a left-shoulder firing weapon. Somalia was my first opportunity to see the FA-FAMAS in action and two very bored Legionnaires were keen to accommodate my curiosity. One thing of note: their magazine change was conducted with the weak or non-firing hand, something I’ve always done with a magazine-fed select fire weapon, but alien to some people.

Swedish troops, most headquartered at the “Swedish Hospital” which supported the UN mission, wore US desert pattern “chocolate-Chip” battle dress uniforms but were armed with the M45(B) Carl Gustav 9mm (kulspruta pistol submachine gun aka “Swedish L”. Influenced by their Finnish M31 Suomi submachine guns (manufactured under license by Sweden’s Husquvarna Vapenfabrik as the Model 37-38) and impressed by the success of crude but effective World War II submachine guns such as the British Sten and the Soviet PPSh-41 and PPS-43, the M45, was developed in the 1944 as a mass-produced, inexpensive weapon. While a well-made high quality weapon simple and uncomplicated in design, the fully-automatic M45 firing its 9mm pistol cartridge is only effective to about fifty meters. Still, an adequate weapon for military police guarding a hospital.

It seems like everybody in Somalia was fired at. The first time some Somali thug sent some rounds my way it was three short bursts of automatic, and nobody could locate the shooter. Sometimes shots were actually exchanged and some Somalis killed while other times it was anybody’s guess if the fire was even aimed directly at us, or just burned off into the air as harassment as we drove pass. With the distinct possibility of being perforated with some of the habitual (and at times somewhat desultory) gunfire, riding around Mogadishu and traveling throughout Somalia was not without its perils. But for a weapons aficionado attached to U.S. special operations it was still a hell of a good time.

Rob Krott, a former Army officer (Infantry and Special Forces units) studied East African cultures at Harvard University. A Swahili speaker with on-the -ground time in the area of operations he was hired as a Dept. of the Army civilian consultant and assigned as the Assistant Team Chief, Somali Linguist Team, in December ’92, deploying to Somalia in January ’93.

For further reading on Operation Restore Hope in Somalia the author recommends; Losing Mogadishu by Jonathan Stevenson and Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden.

By Rob Krott

Its society beset by civil wars in the last fifty years, Yemen is awash in small arms. Nearly every Yemeni male over the age of ten carries some form of weapon, from the traditional jambiya (curved dagger) to assault rifles, as personal apparel and icons of masculinity. In the remote mountains and wadis, open carry of an assault rifle is not only common and widely accepted, but is considered de rigueur. Even heavy weapons such as the DsHk 12.7 machine guns and RPG-7s are available and they frequently crop up in inter-tribal clashes.

Yemen has a public weapons culture: weapons are openly carried, displayed, and fired in public. Every tribesman excepting the poorest owns a rifle (many have more than one) and in public each carries his rifle with him. The open and public carry of weapons is central to Yemeni male identity especially among Yemen’s tribal groups. Yemeni tribal society is completely male dominated and highly chauvinistic. Weapons are more than instruments of defense, hunting, and offense; they are also status symbols and visible proof of social standing. The average Yemeni male sees weapons as symbols of status, power, responsibility, manhood, and wealth.

Honor – sharaf – is a vital value in Yemeni tribal life and a weapon, especially the jambiya, is its symbol. These edged weapons are a highly visible mark of a tribesmen’s social standing. The most expensive jambiyas have handles of carved rhino horn and sheaths of worked silver. Traditionally, possession of “long guns” is limited to Yemenis with tribal affiliations. Non-tribal people living in tribal territories are not permitted to carry rifles, although many now own less ostentatious pistols. Furthermore, “men of learning,” although permitted to carry rifles, seldom do so and imams and tribal sheikhs seldom carry a rifle – but their heavily armed bodyguards communicate their status.

The 50 Million Guns Myth

Yemen reputedly has the highest per capita holdings of small arms in the world. The Yemen Ministry of Interior estimates there are approximately 50 million weapons in a nation of about 18 million.

This estimate has been widely reported in sources as disparate as The Economist, Reuters, The Associated Press, The Yemen Times, and The Lonely Planet Travel Guide. It is so embedded in the conventional wisdom and ‘mystique’ about Yemen that it is usually mentioned in almost anything written about the country. It is an incorrect and exaggerated estimate because, if it’s true, then every Yemeni male over fifteen years old owns more than a dozen guns. This apocryphal figure has never been revised and its origin is unknown, though it was already in circulation as early as 1990. Despite its fallacy, the number is something of a source of national pride for Yemeni tribesmen, but even they know 50 million seems rather high. Government officials and tribesmen alike nod, shrug, and sometimes smile when telling foreigners that their country is home to some 50 million small arms, the majority of which are fully automatic assault rifles.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs now provides an estimate of 15-16 million weapons and has estimated Yemen’s population at a little over 17 million. Removing 25 per cent of the population that was under 18 years old from this estimated population leaves about 6.25 million men able (under cultural practice) to possess arms.

But not every Yemeni man carries or owns a firearm. While the tribes in the north and northeast have a majority of gun ownership, lesser numbers of Yemenis in the major cities, coastal areas, central highlands, and “the south” own or carry firearms (an exception being tribes in remote areas, such as the Hawdramawt). Yemen probably has around 3.5 to 4 million gun owners. Even with an estimate of three firearms per gun owner there would only be 12 million publicly owned firearms. With a few million more equipping the military there might be about 15-16 million guns in Yemen.

Arms Smuggling and Gun Control

The Yemeni-Saudi border is a rugged mountainous area and very difficult to control and police. Border demarcation between the two countries per the Jeddah Treaty is ongoing. Exacerbating the border tensions is the arms smuggling problem (from Yemen to Saudi Arabia). The increasing proliferation of small arms in Yemen is mostly due to Yemen’s inability to police its borders. Weapons smuggling also hinders efforts to stabilize the border and fight terrorism.

According to Major General Saleh Al-Santali of the Saudi Border Guard, in a year’s time border guards arrested 381,900 illegal entrants while thirty-six border guards were “killed in action.” In 2002, Saudi border guards confiscated 263 firearms, 1.2 million rounds of ammunition, 47,600 sticks of dynamite, and large quantities of detonators along their porous 1,800 km long border with Yemen. In one instance, Saudi border guards stopped Yemeni arms smugglers with a load of grenades and automatic weapons intended for possible terrorist actions. That same day border guards in Jizan province engaged Yemeni gunrunners in a firefight, seizing 15 grenades and 10 pen-guns – coveted items in the Middle East for assassinations.

In August 2003 while I was working in Yemen, the Interior Ministry took serious steps to implement new procedures aimed at enhancing the efforts of security authorities in eliminating weapons possession and sale in the country. Strict orders to tighten control over weapons and explosives possession and even “fireworks” were sent out to security authorities in all governorates countrywide: those found selling weapons would face serious legal measures. Orders were given to confiscate all fireworks in the market and take shopkeepers to trial. Legal measures would be taken against those opening fire while celebrating weddings or similar occasions (celebratory gunfire is common in many areas of the Middle East.) Previously, prosecution for unregistered weapons has been limited to non-tribal areas in the South.

The new law probably won’t have much impact on the average Yemeni gun-owner: tribal life-ways and customs which govern weapons possession, use, and the consequences of use hold more sway than governmental laws; especially when weapons were still being openly sold and traded without government interference.

The Gun Markets

Firearms are readily available for sale throughout the country. Yemen has five major regional arms markets: Jehannah (in Sana’a governorate), Sadah, Al Baydah, Al Jowf, and Abyan. Except for Abyan, all are located in the north. There are about 300 gun shops in Yemen averaging about 100 weapons each. Many other small shops dealing in antiquities, jambiya, and jewelry also carry a small selection of antique weapons and serviceable firearms.

Talking with some American oil field workers I learned that some of them had bought Sniders and Martini-Henris in Sana’a and shipped them back to the United States without any trouble. I didn’t have the time to go to the arms market and look for antique weapons so I had to limit my hunt to the shops of the silver souk in Sana’a, which cater to expats and the odd tourist.

There I found at least a dozen shops with a few old bolt actions and muzzle-loading jezails in corners gathering dust, but I found only a few good quality weapons worth looking at and invariably the asking price was higher than what I could buy one for in the U.S. There were a few bargains though. Besides a C96 Mauser pistol, I inspected two pristine, nearly mint, German World War I era Lugers. Asking price was $300.

Cost, in Yemen to a Yemeni, is relative. While a Kalashnikov may cost about $180 in Yemen, $250 in Pakistan, and about $300 to $400 (for a semi-automatic version) in the United States, it is still a very expensive item to the Yemeni. That’s because the GDP per capita in Yemen is $820 a year, $2,000 in Pakistan, $36,200 in the U.S. The average Yemeni shells out almost 22 per cent of his annual income for a Kalashnikov, a Pakistani pays 12.5 per cent, and the average American gun-buyer is only out 0.8 per cent of his yearly income. Thus, for an average Yemeni, guns still aren’t cheap.

Arming Yemen

Yemen has not produced small arms since the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, so all weapons currently in use are imports. In recent years Yemen has received small arms from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and the United States. Yemen then supplies black market imported arms to much of the Horn of Africa: including Djibouti, Somalia, and Sudan. The importation of weapons into Yemen is nearly as old as the country itself. Among the earliest weapons known in Yemen were a pike and a sword that came from Asia, probably India, during the first centuries. Importation of small arms is closely tied to Yemen’s colonial past and its occupiers. There were three initial sources of weapons in Yemen: colonial presence, major power rivalry, and trade.

When the first Europeans arrived in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they found that both the Turks and the Imam of Yemen had artillery installed in fortifications to protect themselves. In the third-quarter of the sixteenth century the Ottoman Turks brought in 2,500 harquebus guns. In the seventeenth century the Ottomans could mobilize forces of 8,000-10,000 men. Small armies of hardy Yemeni tribesmen well armed with muskets conducted several revolts and the Turks were eventually expelled.

By the eighteenth century, gun barrels and stocks as well as gunpowder were being manufactured and sold in Sana’a. In the nineteenth century, the possession of a matchlock was ordinary all across Arabia. One sheikh controlling a city and several villages could marshal an armed force of four thousand. Imports continued apace, so that visitors to Yemen in the early twentieth century could encounter tribesmen bearing matchlocks alongside others with bolt-action breech-loading rifles. The best Arab matchlocks remained in use until quite recently. Some of these had barrels made in British India.

In the Hawdramawt (Yemen’s Death Valley – a rugged area of mountains and wadis – the name translates loosely as “Death is Here”) I encountered tribesmen armed with Kalashnikovs, bolt-action WWII Mausers and, yes, even serviceable matchlocks. I was presented one along with a powder horn and an antique jambiya. Some Yemenis prefer older, bolt action or semi-auto rifles for various reasons including price, range, accuracy, and symbolic value. Antique Turkish pieces and old military service rifles are supplemented, rather than replaced, by modern self-loading and automatic rifles. Downstairs in many houses, among the grain and the goats, are heavy weapons such as mortars, machine guns and even light artillery pieces.

Just as the Ottomans had introduced thousands of harquebuses in the sixteenth century, now the influx of modern weapons are rifles. While Lee Enfields and FN FALs are still widely used and are appreciated for their reliability and quality, and therefore kept, the actual number of British small arms introduced in this fashion to the Yemeni tribes is limited. British military weapons are not commonly found today.

Mausers and Mauser variations are among the most common weapons in Yemen. Some are in the hands of youths whose parents have acquired more modern weapons. As the owner’s first token of manhood they are often prized possessions. The Mausers in Yemen today are nearly all Ottoman Empire in origin and represent the continuous re-equipment of the Ottoman forces throughout their occupation of Yemen, though there is also a large number of World War II era German 98K Mausers fielded in Yemen. It’s possible these 98Ks were from captured stocks provided by the Soviets as aid in the 1960s. While visiting a Bedouin encampment in the Hawdramawt, I fired probably a half-dozen Mauser 98Ks over the course of three days in impromptu shooting competitions. All were well maintained and serviceable.

Although the French never had a major presence in Yemen the French Gras rifle and the modified Chassepot are common and are found in use in Yemen. Few other French weapons are found. I handled about a half-dozen serviceable Gras rifles in the Sana’a silver souk. Gras rifles were already present in large numbers and with adequate quantities of cartridges and bayonets in the 1930s when more were purchased from France and brought in by Aden’s British colonial administration that issued them to local tribal levies.

Chinese and Soviet Weaponry in the Civil War

Egypt, in 1956 under President Nasser, nationalized the Suez Canal leading to a war with France, Israel, and Britain. After the intervention of the United States, the canal re-opened to shipping, and the warring countries returned to their territories. Yemen was key to the southern control of the Suez and through the support of Nasser’s regime the Soviets were able to influence the future of Yemen.

In 1962, Muhammad al-Badr inherited control of North Yemen from his father, Imam Ahmad Yayha and a week later he was overthrown in a military coup led by Colonel Abdullah al-Sallal. Colonel al-Sallal declared the northern region the “Yemen Arab Republic” (known as “North Yemen”) and started a Yemeni civil war. The deposed imam’s “royalists” received aid from the Saudis and the British, while the “republicans” received support from Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, including Egyptian troops. Nasser and King Faisal of Saudi Arabia met in 1965 to halt the civil war yet clashes resumed in 1966.

The British relinquished control of Aden on 30 November 1967 and pulled out of the South and the Communist-oriented Republic of Yemen (known as “South Yemen”) was established. Because some southern sheikhs allied themselves against the new Communist government, thousands of southern Yemenis fled north, seeking refuge in the Yemen Arab Republic and Saudi Arabia. Raiding (a Yemeni tribal pastime) soon began from the north into the Communist south. The raiders, supported by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia (unhappy with a new and radical pro-Communist nation on his border), were armed with U.S. surplus weapons as early as 1968.

When the British withdrew from Aden the Soviets quickly filled the vacuum, pouring military aid into South Yemen. Aid also included a huge buildup as the Soviets began large construction around Aden to support the Soviet military bases. Soviet weapons were funneled via Egypt and then directly to Yemen. South Yemen remained in the Soviet sphere of influence until the end of the Cold War.

Chinese weapons were probably smuggled into Yemen from the unguarded Omani border to the northeast. The 1965 Dhofari rebellion in Oman received Chinese support: Chinese small arms were smuggled across the Yemeni border to the Dhofar rebels. The Soviets and the Chinese both supplied arms to the Omanis in the renamed PFLOAG – Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arab Gulf). In 1972, the Cubans started sending officers to train PFLOAG units in South Yemen.

With the end of the Cold War, South Yemen suffered the same fate as other Soviet client states. Military aid and infrastructure support ended. The lack of continuing support also contributed to the unification of the two Yemens on 22 May 1990 under President Saleh. In 1994 the country erupted again into full-scale civil war fought by the regular armies of each former state with tribal support on each side.

President Saleh’s army wasn’t up to the task of defeating the South’s Soviet-equipped military. He made a bargain with the tribes if they helped defeat the South and brought their own weapons as the North didn’t have sufficient stocks of small arms to equip them, they could loot the South and carry off the large stockpiles of Soviet weaponry. The 1994 civil war resulted in an even wider distribution of small arms throughout Yemen.

During the 1994 civil war President Saleh also recruited Afghan veterans from across the Arab world to wage another victorious jihad against the secular socialists of South Yemen. At its height, the Yemeni Islamist network had its own school system, its own ministries, and even its own governorates, including Hawdramawt, the bin Laden ancestral home. After the fall of the socialists in the south, the Islamists set about filling the void with their own quasi-Taliban rule, a situation that Yemen has had to rectify.

(Rob Krott, SAR’s Military Affairs Correspondent, has been deployed in Iraq as an “independent contractor” with private security companies since December 2003. Prior to that, he was employed in Yemen as the regional security advisor for a large North American oil corporation.)

by Rob Krott

“. . . we have always had our dream, freedom, self-determination, a voice in our future — this is the Kurdish dream. We have come so close but so many things conspire against us, and now these mines, this blight in our fields – they will surely kill our dream, even if we are successful in all our other efforts.”

– Kurdish Author Hussain Arif, Suleimaniya
Kurdistan, September 1991

Author’s Note: Information in this article was collected from friends in the de-mining field, military intelligence, and ordnance experts. Published references include Mines Advisory Group notes; “Interview of National Ground Intelligence Center Mine Warfare Expert,” January 15, 1998; October 1992 report by Rae McGrath, director of the Mines Advisory Group, for Middle East Watch (Division of Human Rights Watch); and the Iraqi Armed Forces Manual for the Tactical Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Official Special Manual No.469, Volume Two, Part One, December 1987. Any errors are solely the author’s. This information is presented with hopes that it may be disseminated (SAR is sending copies to the troops) and may prevent at least one Coalition Soldier from injury. Reading this does not make you an expert. Leave it alone, call EOD, it’s their job and they actually like it. As a platoon sergeant once told me, “Don’t pick it up and for damn sure don’t kick it.”

History of Iraqi Landmines

Iraq has been severely affected by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) as a result of the 1991 Gulf War, the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran War, two decades of internal conflict, and even World War II. (Table 1 lists the mines found in Iraq’s minefields). Landmines and UXO pose a problem in the north, along the Iran-Iraq border, and throughout the central and southern regions of the country. The number of mines planted in Iraq is not known but it is in the millions. The Army of Iraq used mines in Kuwait in 1990-1991, during the Iraq-Iran War both inside Iraq and in Iran, and during internal conflicts, especially in the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. The majority of the minefields in the region were laid during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88; and Iraqi forces laid others in military activities against the region’s Kurds. The mine problem in Northern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan), which has been autonomous from Baghdad since the 1991 Gulf War, is very serious. One Iraqi use of mines was to combat the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) in Northern Iraq and in the 1990’s as part of the Iraqi Government’s Anfal campaign, a forcible resettlement program where villagers were forced into collective towns and their villages mined to prevent return. Landmines and large quantities of UXO were scattered across the region. Since 1992 these weapons have resulted in 6,000 reported injuries and 3,350 reported deaths. In Kurdistan about one person a day steps on a mine or is injured by UXO. Many more mine incidents are believed to go unreported.

The US used 117,634 landmines in Iraq and Kuwait during the 1991 Gulf War. Of these, 27,967 were antipersonnel mines and 89,667 were anti-vehicle mines. US Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aircraft used Gator cluster bomb units to deliver these mines, while the Marine Corps used a small number of artillery-delivered mines. Landmines were identified as the cause of eighty-one US military casualties during the 1991 Gulf War. A recent study by the US General Accounting Office cited reluctance among some US commanders to use mines because of their impact on mobility, fratricidal potential, and safety concerns. US forces currently have at least 90,000 antipersonnel mines deployed in the Persian Gulf region.

Iraq has been both a producer (Iraq began producing mines in the 1970s) and an exporter of landmines and is believed to still possess a significant stockpile of mines. While there are no indications that export activity continued recently, Iraq is the only known mine exporter in the world that has not instituted an export ban or moratorium, or at least made a policy declaration of no current export.

Mines Used in Iraq

The most commonly encountered mines in Kurdistan are the Valmara 69 – called the Broom by Iraqi mine layers – and the VS-50. The SB-33 and PMN-HGE are also very common. The PMN-HGE is a derivative of the well-known Soviet PMN while the other three are Italian designs (some mines of Italian origin and/or design, chiefly the Valmara-69, the VS-50 and the SB-33, may have been assembled or manufactured in other countries, including Iraq). Mines laid by Iraq in northern Iraq and in Kuwait, or found in Iraqi stocks, originated from many countries including: Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Jordan, Italy, Romania, Singapore, the former Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and the United States.

The PMN, sometimes referred to as PMN-1 to differentiate it from the later and more advanced PMN-2, is a Soviet-designed and manufactured anti-personnel, pressure-activated blast mine. Most PMN’s disseminated in Kurdistan have been manufactured in Iraqi State factories. The mine, as found in Kurdistan and designated PMN-HGE by the Iraqis, is a copy of the original Soviet mine. It was displayed as an Iraq-manufactured mine at the Baghdad Arms Fair in May 1989. It differs from the Soviet version only in the method of securing the rubber pressure diaphragm to the thermoplastic casing of the mine. The Iraqi government manufactured and deployed PMN-HE mines during the Iran-Iraq conflict.

Iraq has produced Italian designed mines as well. The Valmara 69 and the VS-50 are designed and manufactured by Valsella Meccanotecnica SpA of Brescia, Italy – one of the world’s leading manufacturers and exporters of landmines. The Valmara 69 weighs in excess of 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) – the main charge in all, or many, of the Valmara-69 and its derivatives used in Kurdistan, is surrounded by approximately 650 6mm diameter steel ball bearings. When activated by pressure or touch of a trip wire, Valmara-69 bounding fragmentation mines bound 1 meter in the air and detonate with a 35-meter lethal radius. People up to 100 meters away can receive severe injuries.

Because Valsella could not obtain an export license for Iraq it formed a new company in Singapore, which was not subject to an export ban, and obtained a license from the Italian government for export to that company. The mines were then re-exported to Iraq. In February 1991, seven executives of Valsella were convicted of illegally exporting nine million landmines to Iraq between 1982 and 1985. They received suspended prison sentences ranging from 18 to 22 months. At trial, The company’s defense was that the Italian government was fully informed of the arms sales to Iraq. {This was not the first time that Valsella was cited in connection with alleged illegal export of land mines through shell or foreign companies, as in September 1987, a Tuscan magistrate, Augusto Lama, told journalists that he had issued warrants against Valsella’s chairman and three executives of the company because he had documentary evidence that Valsella had illegally exported mines to Iran through Spanish, Turkish and Nigerian companies.)

With their source in trouble, Iraq began to manufacture copies of the Valsella mines. At the Baghdad Arms Fair in May 1989 the Iraqis displayed Valmara 69 bounding mines identical to those manufactured by Valsella but apparently manufactured in Iraq.

A Singapore-based company, Chartered Industries, partly owned and controlled by the Singapore government, also advertises devices identical to the Valmara 69 and the VS-50 as its own products; they are designated as VS-69 and VS-50 (also marketed as the SPM-1) by Chartered Industries. Another Italian mine used extensively in Iraq is the SB-33, described by its Italian manufacturers, BPD Difesa E Spazio of Rome, Italy to be a general-purpose, local action mine. The SB-33 is irregularly shaped, measures only 88mm in diameter, is just 32mm high, and has an anti-reflective surface (its dull green/grey finish is an effective camouflage against most natural backgrounds). Yet given Italy’s prohibition on arms exports to Iraq, it is not clear how so many SB-33’s found their way to the minefields of Kurdistan – though these mines are identical to the EM-20 marketed by the Elveiemek S.A., Hellenic Explosives & Ammunition Industry of Athens, Greece.

Besides Italian mines there are also Italian multi-purpose SAT mine fuses in Iraqi minefields. These fuses may be used to set off old or obsolete anti-tank mines by pressure or used as an anti-lift device. The fuses are coupled to buried anti-tank mines, which are not visible; although these may be MISAR SBP-04 or SBP-07, which were fitted with, SAT fuses. Originally manufactured by MISAR SpA of Brescia, Italy, in January 1990 the company was taken over by BPD Difesa e Spazio srl. of Rome who now market three devices in what they call the “SAT mine fuse family” – SAT/N, SAT/QZ and SAT/TL. The fuses are identical in appearance although they differ in explosive content and technical specification. Two models of the VS-3.6 and the VS-2.2, anti-tank mines are plastic devices employing the Valsella VS-N pressure fuse. These mines are frequently surface-laid and protected against removal by Valsella 69 and VS-50 anti-personnel mines.

Miscellany

The Soviet VP-13, found in Iraq and other Middle East client states, incorporates “selectivity” – design features that avoid detonation by animals. Also found in Kurdistan were two, as yet unidentified, anti-personnel devices, believed to be of Iranian origin: one is a “stake” mine, probably of the fragmentation-type set off by tripwire, and the other is a small box-shaped mine of plastic construction which may be an Iranian pressure-release mine. Local reports and descriptions also indicate the presence of SB-33 and POMZ-2 landmines. A US M16-A2 bounding anti-personnel mine, indicating a possible Iranian minefield, was also recovered. The US M16 “bouncing betty” mines were supplied to the Shah of Iran’s army by the United States, and are not thought to have been a stock item in the Iraqi armory, though the Iraqis may have captured significant stocks and subsequently deployed.

Mortar and artillery rounds, including a 130mm artillery shell, have been used as improvised command-detonated mines. The 130mm round was buried on a slope so that when detonated it would disperse shrapnel a large distance to the front and sides of it. The normal impact fuse was removed and an electrical detonator surrounded by silicon gel inserted. This was then connected to a cable running back to an abandoned bunker 50 meters to the rear. Troops in the bunker could use a switch and electrical current to make the shell detonate on command.

Ansar Al Islam, an Islamic fundamentalist group with strong links to Al Qaeda, was based in the eastern part of northern Iraq, close to the Iranian border in Biyara, a few kilometers from Halabja. During Operation Iraqi Freedom a ground attack by Kurdish guerrillas, the Peshmerga (“the Undefeated”), was launched with the support of US forces. Many of the terrorists were killed or captured and others fled to the surrounding mountains. In the process of clearing up after the fighting, abandoned ammunition and booby traps were found in villagers’ homes taken over by the group. Mines Advisory Group (MAG) a British demining NGO, cleared a house in Deh Kon village, close to Halabja and used by Ansar Al Islam, removing 276 Chinese Type 72A anti-personnel mines and 4 mortar rounds.

Operation Iraqi Freedomb

From the very beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom there were reports of mine use by Iraqi forces near the Kuwaiti border, around Kirkuk in the north, and elsewhere. Iraqi troops laid anti-personnel mines in southern Iraq. There have been other reports that Iraqi forces were laying mines around Kirkuk in the north and elsewhere in the country. In the southern areas it appears that the mines, in most cases, were armed but deployed in a random and careless manner. Many Valmara 69 mines were not buried but linked in series on single tripwires. In one case, more than twelve devices were interlinked in this way. In the same area many VS-50 and other pressure devices were scattered at random – sometimes in groups of twenty or more. Some of these mines are unarmed. Other defensive minefields left over from the Iran-Iraq War consist of a more conventional pattern – predominantly of anti-personnel mines – Valsella 69, VS-50, and PMN-HE. Some are buried, others are surface laid, over wide, ill defined, and unmarked areas. Anti-tank mines, probably Soviet TM-46 or derivatives, PMN anti-personnel, and VS 1.6 (Valmara) anti-tank mines were laid in roadways by Iraqi troops. They dug holes in the asphalt and then covered the mines with tar.

Derband Gorge

During much of the Iran-Iraq war, Derband Gorge was the frontline between the opposing forces, and was the scene of some of the most violent engagements of the war. Because of the gorge’s strategic importance a significant concentration of mines and a high incidence of particularly hazardous napalm devices were laid there. The Derband minefield contains booby-traps consisting of 20-liter steel drums of napalm (jellied gasoline made from naphthalene and coconut oil). The drums have an explosive charge and are detonated by pull-ignition fuses connected to tripwires. The tripwires forming part of the initiation circuit are also connected to bounding mines and in some cases the napalm drums are interlinked with tripwire-activated mines. The napalm containers are, in most cases, buried, leaving the upper 25% of the drum exposed. In several instances, however, the drum is totally buried leaving only the top exposed at ground level.

Chemical Mines?

Before the Gulf War, the Defense Intelligence Agency believed that Iraq’s ground forces possibly had chemical mines. This analysis was based on two pieces of information. Firstly, a Canadian soldier assigned to a United Nations’ peacekeeping force after the Iran-Iraq War thought he identified an Iraqi mine filled with chemical warfare agent in a conventional minefield along the Iran-Iraq border. It was recovered, however, and positively identified as a conventional mine. The second circumstance that caused concern in the US intelligence community began with an explosives shortage in Italy in the mid-1980s that led to the production of unfilled mine bodies. The US intelligence community was concerned nations such as Iraq, which had used many Italian-produced mines, would fill these mine bodies with chemical warfare agents. This fear proved unfounded. UNSCOM discovered no chemical mines in its post-war inspection and destruction of Iraq’s chemical weapons.

After the war, contractors for Kuwait collected and destroyed more than 3.5 million mines, none chemical, inside Kuwait. In addition, coalition forces captured and translated many of Iraq’s documents. Except for theoretical discussions, none addressed chemical mines. One of Iraq’s captured engineering publications discusses clearing an area of enemy chemical mines, using a US M21 chemical mine as an example.

After traveling 300 kilometers along the Gulf War front looking for signs of booby traps or chemical mines, a US expert found none.

Iraqi Minefield Doctrine

Iraqi engineers strictly implemented their doctrine for mine-laying operations. A US expert on foreign mines stated he felt very safe in an Iraqi minefield due to their discipline in following doctrine. However, reading interviews with Iraqi engineers makes me think differently. Iraqi sappers or engineers placed three anti-personnel mines 1 meter from an anti-tank mine with 4 to 5 meters separating each anti-tank mine. During the Gulf War, Iraqi combat engineers consistently followed this doctrine across its entire 400 kilometers of minefields. In a minefield near the Turkish border a random sample section 15×10 meters contained 31 PMN-HGEs, six Valmara 69s and two TM-46 anti-tank mines. There were also seven PMN-HGEs that were either unarmed or inoperative for other reasons. All anti-personnel devices were surface laid. The occasional standard mine marker is visible in these minefields and others may be present.

A September 1991 interview with an Iraqi Istikhbarat (military intelligence) officer attached to a Divisional Engineer Unit (with responsibility for a section of the defenses along the Iraqi-Turkish border prior to the Gulf conflict) revealed more on how the Iraqis laid mines. When asked if he had any idea how many mines were laid he answered, “I doubt if anyone would have an exact answer, except maybe the ordnance supply quartermaster in Mosul. This is how big it was – for four months we laid mines throughout the front, every day – there simply weren’t enough military trucks to bring them from the stores in Mosul so civilian vehicles were used as well.” Responding to questions on record keeping he replied, “I never saw any maps. We, the officers, knew where the mines were meant to be laid and those instructions were passed down to the sappers. No, I don’t think any maps were made.”

An interview conducted at the same time with an Iraqi Army divisional sapper unit section commander, one of 2,500 soldiers involved in the same mine-laying operation as the Istikhbarat officer, refutes the assertion that the Iraqis were disciplined minelayers. (see Sidebar) According to the squad leader: no maps or sketches of the minefields were made; the officers kept no records or maps as the minelayers were too busy; only a count of the mines laid was kept – usually about 5,000 a day by his squad alone; faulty mines and mines without detonators were laid; and mines were laid without arming or merely surface laid due to laziness. So much for discipline.

De-mining and Clearance

Kurdish Peshmerga military forces have cleared mines from roads in Iraqi Kurdistan by hand, locating them by using probes. Only in northern Iraq has there been organized mine clearance where humanitarian mine action programs are conducted in the northern provinces or governorates of Sulaymaniya, Erbil, and Dohuk. It is estimated that funding for mine action in northern Iraq totaled about $80 million from 1993 to 2001. The Iraq Mine Action Program, under the jurisdiction of the United Nations, is funded entirely through the UN Oil for Food Program, which started in 1997. Two key mine action NGOs, Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), receive funds apart from the UN program, totaling about $2.4 million in 2001. The Mines Advisory Group is a United Kingdom-based agency specializing in the design of mine survey techniques and the establishment of humanitarian landmine eradication programs. MAG began operations in 1992 in the Kurdish controlled region of northern Iraq In 2001. MAG and NPA cleared more than 1 million square meters of land. Mine clearance efforts in the rest of the country prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom remain unknown.

For more information on MAG contact:

Mines Advisory Group
47 Newton Street
Manchester M1 1FT
United Kingdom,
TEL: +44 [0] 161 236 4311
FAX: INT +44 [0] 161 236 6244
email: maguk@mag.org.uk

by J.c. Henly & Rob Krott

With the involvement of Australian forces in World War II (both in the North African Desert campaign against the Germans and Italians and in the Pacific against the Japanese) the Australian military found itself using nearly obsolete British weaponry and in need of additional, and more modern, armaments to equip its combat forces. Prior to World War II the Australian Military Forces (AMF) didn’t envision a role for Airborne (paratroop) or Commando units. This soon changed dramatically and by 1944 the Australians had formed a Parachute Battalion, a number of Independent Commando Companies, and the Clandestine Service Reconnaissance Department (SRD). As the war progressed the AMF realized its issue weapons were largely unsuitable for special operations and jungle warfare. The Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) No. 1 Mark III .303 rifle and No. 4 Enfield .303 rifle, while perhaps suitable for firing from the trenches in Europe in the previous war were definitely too heavy and ungainly for parachute troops and small, quick moving jungle recon teams. Lighter weapons, preferably full automatic for greater firepower, were needed. The Australian government quickly rushed two new weapons into production: the Mark 1 Austen Submachine Gun and the Mark 1 Owen Submachine Gun, both chambered for the 9x19mm pistol cartridge then in use.

Australian Submachine Guns

The Austen (a contraction of “Australian Sten’) was externally similar to the British 9x19mm Sten submachine gun. This was because the British had furnished the Australians with working models and blueprints along with manufacturing information for the Sten in late 1941. The British Sten gun, however, proved unsuitable for the Australians, who modified the basic design by using the internal mechanism, changed some external designs, and incorporated the folding stock of the German MP40. This resulted in the Austen, which also incorporated the MP40’s telescoping recoil spring cover and firing pin assembly. Later, the Mark II Austen utilizing a two-piece receiver cast from aluminum to speed production was introduced. By the end of the war Diecasters Ltd. and W.T. Carmichael of Melbourne had produced some 20,000 Austens and a small number of a silenced version, the Austen Mark 1 (S), for use by the SRD.

More popular and more widely recognized as a uniquely Australian weapon with its top-mounted 30-round box magazine and rough appearance was the Owen Submachine Gun. Named for its inventor, Evelyn Owen, it was to undergo a number of improvements and variations during its service life, remaining in service with the AMF until the 1960s. British forces also used a significant number of Owen submachine guns in the post-war Malaysian counter-insurgency. Some 45,000 Owens had been produced by the Lysaghts Newcastle Works, New Castle, South Wales by the end of World War II and its ruggedness and dependability made it the weapon of choice by the Australian Commandos.

Commandos and SAS

With the end of the war in 1945 the Airborne and Commando units were disbanded and their men re-assigned to conventional army units. Airborne training was not re-introduced for Army personnel until 1951 and in 1955 it was decided to re-raise two Commando Companies as part of the Citizens Military Forces (CMF/Reserve). These were to be (and still remain) No. 1 Commando Company in Sydney, New South Wales, and No. 2 Commando Company in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1957 it was decided to also raise an Australian Special Air Service (SAS) unit, nearly identical in make-up, training, and mission as the British special operations unit of the same name, as part of the AMF, to be based in Perth, Western Australia, where they still remain.

Equipped with Foreign Weapons

Australian troops soon saw further action in Korea, Malaya, and Borneo. The Australians equipped their troops with the .303 Enfield rifles left over from World War II, being one of the few allied forces in the Korean War wholly equipped with bolt-action rifles. After their Korean War experience with the cumbersome bolt-action rifles, the Australian soldiers deployed to Malaya in 1955 were only too happy to receive a supply of modern FN FAL 7.62x51mm rifles from the British Army. They were also issued US Army surplus .30 M1 Carbines, and 12 gauge Model 870 Remington shotguns as well as the .303 No.5 Enfield “Jungle Carbine.” The only Australian-made weapon carried by AMF in Malaya was the venerable Owen.

Regarding the Jungle Carbines issued to the Australians, World War II operations in the Far East had prompted the British Army to lighten the soldier’s load and provide a weapon more suitable to jungle fighting. Feedback from the field favored something like the US .30 M1 Carbine. In 1943 the No. 5 Jungle Carbine was developed to meet the need for a light, short barrel carbine.

Approved for issue in September 1944 it was basically a shortened No. 4 Mark 1 Enfield rifle fitted with a bell-mouth flash hider, a short handguard, and a rubber recoil pad. Though it was considered for issue as a standard rifle after the war it was deemed obsolete in 1947. The No.5 Jungle Carbine was withdrawn from service because of design defects: 1) excessive recoil, and 2) failure to hold its zero. Yet this didn’t prevent it from being issued to the Australians deployed to Malaya in 1955. With its hodgepodge of foreign weaponry it was obvious to the Australian Army that they needed their own standard issue weapons. It would be a few more years but eventually the diggers would get a modern military weapon to call their own.

z Arms 60’s Style

In 1962 the Australian Army formally adopted the 7.62x51mm L1A1 semiautomatic SLR (Self Loading Rifle) to replace the British FN FAL rifles in service since the Malaysian Insurgency and any .303 No. 1 Mark III SMLE rifles still in service with the Citizens Military Forces. The L1A1, based on the FN FAL but modified (to the standardized inch-dimension version as used by the British and Canadians) and manufactured under license in Australia at Lithgow, became the standard issue rifle of the Australian Army.

Weighing 12 pounds with an overall length of 44.8 inches it occasionally proved to be “too much gun” for some soldiers. A lighter, short-barrel version, the L1A1 F1, was introduced (it was supposedly designed as an export model intended for the Papua New Guinea Defence Force) for use by shorter stature soldiers. By using the flash eliminator as a barrel sleeve incorporated as a combined muzzle brake-flash suppressor nearly 3 inches were trimmed from the barrel length. Reducing the length of the buttstock further shortened the weapon. Some L1A1 F1 rifles were issued for use by Australian SAS troops, as the short barrel versions of the weapon were better suited to jungle warfare.

For increased firepower at the section (squad) level an automatic rifle version of the L1A1 was developed. The L2A1 Automatic Rifle incorporated a larger 30-round magazine, a heavy barrel, and a bipod, and weighed a little over 15 pounds. In service it was considered by many to be the equivalent to the by then obsolete Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR). To meet the requirement for a squad automatic weapon some World War II service Bren Light Machine Guns were modified, re-chambered to 7.62x51mm and re-issued as the L4A4. But like the BAR, the L4A4’s were still obsolete simply by virtue of their size, weight, and limited firepower (due to the need to frequently change its 30-round detachable box magazines). A number of 7.62x51mm FN MAG 58 GPMGs (known in the Australian supply system as the L7A1) were obtained later by the Australian Army. And although the L7A1 was a belt-fed machine gun, they were still not regarded as suitable. In the late 1950s the Australian Army adopted the U.S. M60 GPMG.

The same year the Australian Army adopted the L1A1 SLR (1962) also saw the demise of the Owen gun purportedly in favor of a lighter, more easily produced weapon with a lower rate of fire. The battle proven Owen was deemed obsolete and a new weapon was manufactured by the Australian Government Small Arms Factory at Lithgow, New South Wales, to replace it. Known as the X3 while in development the 9x19mm F1 submachine gun was, like the Owen, fed by a top-mounted magazine, although the F1 utilizes a British L2A3 (Sterling) 34-round staggered-column, detachable box magazine. The F1 was a fully automatic, blowback submachine gun with a cyclic rate of 600 rpm. Fully loaded it weighed the same (over 9 pounds) and despite a more “modern look” with its better finish and its ventilated cooling jacket it was never as popular with the troops as the Owen. With the acquisition of some Colt M16A1 rifles the F1 was quickly relegated to use by armored crewmen, drivers, and military police. The only other 9x19mm weapon then in service was the FN Browning High Power designated by the Australian Army as Pistol, 9mm L9A1.

The reliable High Power is being supplanted, however. The recent deployment of the ADF to East Timor has seen the issue of 9x19mm Glock 17 semiautomatic pistols to those ADF personnel unable to carry the F88 rifle due to their duties. The Glock 19, aka “Model G19” is currently issued to RAAF flight personnel who call it the JAP – “Jet Aircrew Pistol.”

Indonesia 1960s

Much of the early 1960s re-equipment of the Army was to prove provident as in December 1962 President Sukarno of Indonesia declared Konfrontasi (Confrontation) against the British in Borneo. Lasting until 1966, this insurgency was to become an unknown and unreported war. In 1965 British and Australian SAS units began their first joint operations against the Indonesian Forces. The Australian SAS flew to Singapore where they were hastily issued US M18A1 Claymore mines, M26 hand grenades, and the new AR-15/XM-15 rifle (supplied to the British by the US) Also issued were Sabre Beacons, C-128 Radio Sets, British 58 pattern webbing and British jungle green uniforms. Dressed in British uniforms and carrying US weaponry, it was doubtful if killed in action whether the Indonesians could have accurately identified the body as being a dead Australian SAS trooper. In March 1966 President Sukarno was deposed in a coup led by General Suharto and in August of that year a peace agreement was signed.

Vietnam

After the Borneo imbroglio the SAS along with other units of the Australian Army were soon bound for Vietnam. Australian advisors to the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN) were assigned to the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) as early as 1964. During these deployments the AATTV and SAS troops usually carried US weapons. While the 7.62x51mm M60 GPMG, the 40mm M79 and M203 grenade launchers, and 5.56x45mm M16 and M16A1 rifles were quickly adopted by Australian forces, the Australians continued to carry the L1A1 SLR as their main battle rifle. Even though the M16 was a lighter weapon capable of full automatic fire and a basic load of ammunition was lighter to carry, many of the Australian “advisors” preferred the heavier caliber L1A1 SLR for jungle fighting. By 1973 (the end of the Australian deployment in Vietnam) they were armed with a mix of SLRs and M16s.

Sniping Rifles

The AMF first fielded the .303 SMLE No. 1 Mk III* (HT) fitted with a heavy barrel and Pattern 1918 Australian telescopic sight as their sniper rifle. Approximately 1,600 of these weapons were manufactured during World War II and saw extensive service in both European and Pacific theaters. These rifles were largely replaced by the .303 No.4 Mk 1(T) Sniper Rifle with a Mk. 1 wooden cheek rest and No.32 Mk 3 Telescopic sight, considered the best sniping rifle of its time. Some were tuned up by the expert gunsmiths of Holland and Holland. These weapons were put together under wartime production stress. The No.32 telescopic sight was originally developed for use on Bren guns.

The No. 4T sniper rifles were later re-chambered for 7.62x51mm NATO, re-fitted with the L1A1 Telescopic sight, and designated the L42A1. The L42A1 is readily identified by a shortened fore-end cut in a sporter style. At best the L42A1 was a quick fix done to save on the development of a new rifle. Unfortunately the optics weren’t updated and the weapon continued to mount the World-War-II-era No. 32 telescopic sight. Even when first issued the L42A1 was a lack-luster sniping rifle. Many sporting rifles of the day were better. The British replaced the L42A1, the last Enfield rifle in service with its Army, with the Parker-Hale sniping rifles. The Australians followed suit, replacing the L42A1 rifles in their inventory with the 7.62x51mm NATO Model 82 Parker Hale Rifle mounting a Kahles Helia Model ZF69 Telescopic Sight. In addition to the Parker Hale, the SAS also use the PSG1 Heckler and Koch Sniper Rifle and a small quantity of .22-250 Tikka Model 55 (HB) Rifles.

In 1998 it was announced by the ADF that the Model 82 Parker Hale rifle in use by Australian snipers was to be replaced by a new weapon – the Accuracy International (UK) AW-F. Like the Parker Hale this is a 7.62x51mm bolt-action rifle but that is where any similarity ends. The AW-F, or SR98 as named by the ADF, has a reinforced nylon buttstock with thumb-hole grip, folding stock, butt spike, cheekpiece, and multi-adjustable butt plate. Other features are a quick release sight mount and a MIL-STD-1913 rail interface to allow for the use of other sights. The standard sight for use with the SR98 is the Schmidt and Bender 3-12x50mm variable power telescopic sight.

The ADF also has a requirement for a .50 caliber sniping rifle for use down to the battalion level. However, a determination is still forthcoming. Field trials with the Barrett M82A1 were recently conducted and reports were favorable.

1970s to the 1990s

In the late 1970s and early 1980s the role of the Australian Special Action Forces changed focus from jungle and insurgency warfare to urban warfare and counter-terrorism. The Commando Companies of the Army Reserve (ARes) make extensive use of the M16A1, considered to be an excellent battle rifle. They also use the 9x19mm L34A1 Silenced Submachine Gun (British L2A3 Sterling), essentially a Sterling whose barrel jacket incorporates a suppressor.

The SAS squadrons of the Australian Regular Army (ARA) serve on a three-year training rotation. In their first year they attend specialist training courses; the second year is devoted to training in the SAS war role (sniping, reconnaissance, combat patrolling); in their third year they concentrate on counter terrorist training. In the late 1980s a Regional Force Surveillance Unit (RFSU) was established. Like the Commando Companies it is part of the ARes and its members (many of whom are Aborigines) live and train in Northern Australia.

Oz Arms 2002

The most significant changes in Australian Defence Force (ADF) armories have come about in the past decade. A period of reorganization, like that of the 1960s, has included a new small arms weapons system designed to serve the ADF into the 21st century. The Austrian Steyr AUG (Armee Universal Gewehr – universal army rifle) bullpup rifle was introduced in 1977 and was soon adopted by Saudi Arabia, Oman, and New Zealand. After test trials the Australian Government decided to arm its troops with the Austrian 5.56x45mm Steyr AUG. Like the L1A1, the Austeyr (Australian Steyr) is manufactured under license in Australia. The initial contract provided for the Australian manufacture of 85,000 Austeyr rifles. One difference between the Austrian and Australian models is that the “vine-catcher” type flash hider was replaced with a unit more conducive to jungle operations. There are three models in production: the Austeyr F88, the Austeyr F88-C (Carbine) with a barrel 4 inches shorter than the standard F88 rifle, and the Austeyr F88-S which lacks the integral 1.5 power sight, allowing the mounting of the AN/PVS-4 Night Vision Sight or other optics. The Steyr saw action in Somalia with the Australian contingent. A design problem, which could lead to accidental discharges, resulted in the wounding of one Australian trooper while on patrol near Baidoa. Reviews from the field concerning the Steyr’s suitability were mixed.

Steyr also manufactures and markets a suppressed 9x19mm AUG Carbine and a 9x19mm Tactical Machine Pistol (TMP) based on the 9mm Steyr MPi69 Submachine Gun. Whether the suppressed carbine or the TMP will be obtained by the Commandos to replace their L34A1 (suppressed Sterlings) is not definite. The SAS have already adopted the 9x19mm H&K MP5-SD3 (Suppressed) Submachine Gun as well as the MP5-A3 and the MP5-K for counter-terrorist work. They supposedly also have a few Beretta Model 92 pistols fitted with Knights suppressors.

The 5.56x45mm Minimi (M249 SAW) manufactured by FN Herstal is fielded in Australia as the F89 GPMG and is a product-improved version of the US M249. This includes a heavier profile barrel, closed prong flash suppressor, black marnyl butt and removal of the load indicator on the feed cover. The FN Minimi is a reliable light machine gun that rarely incurs stoppages. It incorporates a variable gas supply and a rotating bolt breech system. Its unique feed system allows it to load either belted ammunition or box magazines (M16-type) without any adjustment. The belts load in the belt feed on the left side whereas the box magazines load into a lower magazine housing. The rate of fire is slightly higher for magazine fed operation, as the cyclic rate is not slowed by the feed mechanism pulling the weight of the belt. The F89 replaces the L1A2, L4A4, M60, and MAG-58 machine guns (all of which are still in use). The latest model of the F89 (M249 SAW) GPMG now in service is known as the F89A1-LSW. In the infantry battalions the front sight has been removed and the weapon equipped with an optical sight. The F89A1 has an improved extractor, improved feed tray cover hold open springs, and a hydraulic buffer assembly. The current optical sight is the same as that used on the F88 rifle, but the 1.5X sight is only adequate for short ranges. With the F89 intended to engage targets beyond 400 meters a new 4X optical sight mounted on a MIL-STD-1913 rail assembly is planned. AN/PVS-4s have also been mounted on the F89. The Australian SAS which also continues to use the L1A1 (SLR) and M16 rifles (the F88 Austeyr is not highly favored), will retain the MAG-58. The SAS, because of its elite role and unique needs, will continue to equip itself with whatever weapons it desires. The remainder of the Australian Military Forces must, as they always have, work with what they are issued.

J.C. Henley is a former Australian Army infantry corporal and paratrooper. The author of Australian Parachute Insignia, he frequently writes on military weapons, history, and insignia. Rob Krott is SAR’s military affairs correspondent.

By Rob Krott

Editor’s Note: US Peacekeepers deployed to Macedonia as part of Operation Essential Harvest following hostilities with Albanian separatists. Because the threat of renewed hostilities and the presence of Al Qaeda terrorists amongst Albanian insurgents holds open the possibility of the insertion of U.S. military ground forces to a renewed conflict, SAR presents this report from the frontlines and a review of the small arms currently fielded by the Macedonian Army and Albanian insurgents.

Rain plastered the t-shirt to my body. Even with the overcast sky and the drizzling rain it was hot in Tetovo. The Macedonian soldiers manning the roadblock and yelling at me made that obvious. Clad in civilian clothes, albeit with GI jungle boots, I didn’t present a military target and exited the battered Mercedes as nonchalantly as possible. My nervous driver begged me to leave my camera in the car.

About 25 miles west of Skopje and tucked into the rolling hills near the Kosovar border is Tetovo, one of the five largest cities in Macedonia and a northwestern town with a mainly ethnic-Albanian population. The political tensions between the Macedonian government and the country’s Albanian minority first erupted over the Albanian-language University of Tetovo. Established by ethnic Albanians in 1995 it was declared illegal and became a symbol of the ethnic strife, resulting in violent clashed between police and demonstrators.

In the spring of 2001 minor ethnic clashes and street demonstrations grew into a full-scale guerrilla war. For most of the summer the conflict escalated after the initial hostilities and was soon a full-blown counter-insurgency in northern Macedonia. According to friends in Macedonia the Volci (Wolves), a special operations unit, similar to the Police Tigers, with experience in counter-terrorist operations were very busy. Only used in urban situations they are a DELTA type unit composed of professional soldiers electing a ten-year service contract. It was suggested I might like to tour Macedonia in wartime.

When I arrived on a flight from Sofia, Macedonian police in camouflage uniforms and combat body armor were dispersed on the runway awaiting our disembarkation. I guess this very visible, yet meaningless, heightened security was in case some well-known Albanian terrorist decided to alight from the airliner. An improbable situation I thought at the time but in light of 9/11, definitely possible. Two teenaged boys seated behind me looked out the window and exclaimed “Hey, that’s a Kalashnikov!” Their mother didn’t look as thrilled. Heavily armed national police manned several checkpoints and sandbagged positions along the drive into Skopje. On the way to my hotel I heard the unmistakable sound of a helicopter turbine and looked out the window to see a Macedonian Army HIND-D attack helicopter skimming the rooftops. I would see several helicopters and fast movers over the city in the next few days. From my vantage point, a hotel on a hill in the city’s outskirts, I watched them fly through the valley on their way to the fighting near Tetovo. I learned from the Ministry of Defense that there were a total of seventeen helicopters in action including Mi-17, Mi-8, and Mi-24 HINDs for transport, recon, and combat missions. There were four Sukhoi-25 attack aircraft committed to the fighting. The situation in Skopje when I arrived was tense as a police counter-terrorist operation the day before was the talk of the town. The police killed five Albanian “terrorists” in a firefight in a Skopje apartment. However, an Albanian language newspaper said that an Albanian woman claimed she was awakened in the middle of the night when the police/military raid team hit the house and killed five male “visitors.” I guess one man’s “terrorist” is another man’s, er, “visitor.” She claimed the five men (who she of course did not know) were not Albanian terrorists. I wondered how these completely innocent men came to be in possession of a large arms cache. The raid made the front page of the Macedonian papers and in a photo of the contraband captured in the raid I counted at least six assault rifles, one scoped folding stock assault rifle, several loaded magazines, camouflage uniforms, and a large pile of ammo bandoliers for the South African Armscorp 40mm grenade launcher. There were loose rounds displayed on top of the pile. There were two of the distinctive revolver-action, six-cylinder, folding-stock, optically sighted grenade launchers lying nearby. Just what every visitor keeps in his overnight bag. Another successful operation had just occurred as I left the airport: an Albanian convoy was shot up and several Albanian “terrorists” were killed.

Macedonia’s foes were supposedly homegrown ethnic Albanian rebels of the National Liberation Army (NLA). Roughly a third of Macedonia’s population of 2 million is Albanian. In many areas of the northwestern Macedonia, where the Albanians are concentrated, Albanian paramilitary groups were formed and trained in 2000 by veterans of the now-disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) or in Albanian: Ushtria Clirimtare E Kosoves (UCK). The organization was modeled on the KLA. Many of the younger recruits also had regular army training from service as Macedonian Army conscripts. I soon learned that most of the Albanian fighters were actually KLA/UCK. Weeks later when the Albanians turned in their weapons many were seen wearing UCK emblems on their uniforms and caps. The KLA’s spokesmen have stated its mission, the formation of a “Greater Albania,” only too succinctly: “Our job is to liberate the whole of Kosovo, as well as the Albanians in Macedonia and Montenegro.”

“Is Cease-fire, No problem!”

That Saturday the fighting around Radusa, a border village, flared up, with Macedonian positions receiving 82mm mortar fire from the Kosovo side of the border. Despite the peace negotiations, on Sunday approximately 1,000 NLA insurgents with vehicles massed on the border for an offensive south. That was the reason for all the fast-mover and helicopter activity. Heavy fighting continued throughout the region and NLA units engaged police posts near Albanian strongholds in Slupcane and Orizare with mortar and machine gun fire. And, of course, the temperature dropped to the high 60s with intermittent rain. If the weather worsened it might eventually affect air ops. All in all I thought it a perfect situation for a visit to the front lines.

As I negotiated for a ride to the front my taxi driver nodded his okay with our arrangement while another cabbie chimed in, “Is cease-fire, no problem!” I threw my bag in the car. The knapsack held extra film, a backup camera, a rain jacket, an MRE, a bottle of water, and first aid supplies (as a minimum I always carry G.I. pressure bandages, tape, and 4×4 gauze sponges in a war zone). I had a switchblade in the top of my boot, a camera around my neck, a notebook in my back pocket, and a Snickers bar. I was ready.

We headed west on the Skopje-Tetovo road. My plan was to get as close as possible. If I was stopped by the military or police I would try to cajole my way further up the line. I was able to observe some units in the rear and others moving up. When I climbed out of the cab at the checkpoint (about 20 troops backed up by a Henschel TM-170 armored car, aka “Hermelin”) I could hear the rattle-rattle of automatic weapons fire. So much for the ceasefire. The last act of defiance from the Albanians, or was it the Macedonian army playing catch up? Before I’d taken two steps soldiers were yelling at me in Macedonian. I yelled back “Novinar, novinar” (journalist) while keeping a stupid grin plastered on my face. I held my camera out to my side. From the actions of the soldiers I expected getting slammed into the pavement and having an AK muzzle screwed into my ear. An officer rushed over and started yelling at the taxi driver who suddenly forgot he spoke English when I asked him to interpret for me. A mortar round exploded just beyond the troop position and we all flinched. My press identification and clearance from the Macedonian Ministry of Information were brushed aside. It was a one-sided “no-no-yes” conversation. No, I wasn’t going any farther. No, I wasn’t going to take any photos. Yes, I was going to get my ass back in the cab and go back to Skopje. So much for seeing the Macedonian Army in action. Unable to actually join an infantry unit in combat, my experience with the Macedonian Army and its armaments therefore is from observation of units moving to the front, conversations with artillerymen and rear area support troops, and information garnered from Macedonian Defense Ministry briefers.

The Macedonian Army

The JNA (Jugoslav People’s Army – Jugoslavenska Narodna Armija) became the JV (Jugoslavenska Vojnika – Jugoslav Army) on 19 May 1992. The Macedonian Armed Forces (Armija na Republika Makedonija – ARM) was created in 1992, a year after Macedonia gained independence from Yugoslavia. Conscription started when the first intake reported for training at Skopje, Bitola, Stip, and Ohrid barracks on 14 April 1992. Under an agreement with Belgrade, all materiel belonging to the JV was taken to Serbia. The JV retrieved 350 armored vehicles (tanks, APCs, and tank transporters), 400 artillery pieces (multiple rocket launcher systems, howitzers, and cannons), 35 fighter and training aircraft, 5 helicopters, 410 different air defense weapons, 284 air defense rocket systems, 1,692 ground to air rockets, radars from Bitola, Valandovo and Delchevo, three motor patrol boats and 109,100 infantry weapons. Macedonia was left with only the weapons and equipment of the Macedonian Territorial Defenses.

Macedonia, strapped for funds, has been struggling to re-arm its forces since then. It has also reorganized its forces using NATO know-how provided since it became a member of the alliance’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) program, designed to build ties with former communist forces. Through the PfP program the 11th Stip Motorized Brigade “the Scorpions” has participated in five multinational exercises including “Co-Operative Nugget ’97” at Fort Polk, LA, “Best Co-operative Effort ’97” and “Esperia ’97” in Italy. Other units participated in “Peaceful Eagle ’96” in Albania and U.S. Special Forces participated with Macedonian units in “Winter ’96” in Macedonia.

The Macedonian Army has an estimated 15,000-20,000 ground troops (about 1% of the population), although, in reality, it can only muster around 10,000 combat troops. A general mobilization could swell its ranks to 120,000. By 1996 fully 35% of the army were “professional” or volunteer soldiers. Conscripts serve nine months. Draftees may also elect to serve in non-combatant roles as conscientious objectors. Most soldiers involved in the fighting during the summer of 2001 were professionals or reservists. The call up of reservists to fight the NLA/KLA seasoned some soldiers, expanded the ranks, and improved the quality of the fledgling army.

In the Albanian crisis the government considered some of its Army units unreliable, as they contained large numbers on ethnic Albanians. This is why early on in the conflict it had tried to use only police units as they contained a higher percentage on Slav Macedonians.

Arming the ARM

During the Balkans War the United Nations Security Council placed an embargo for import and export of arms for all former Yugoslav republics. This slowed down the process of equipping the ARM. The subsequent exclusion of Macedonia from the arms embargo in 1996 allowed Macedonia to equip its military, but it had to decide whether to purchase military equipment from East-European or Western countries. Buying from NATO offered many advantages including quicker integration into NATO. The only problem was the price – although ARM received donations and favorable arrangements from NATO member-states and other friendly nations – it couldn’t afford to equip with solely NATO weaponry.

Eastern European weapons systems were favored. The Macedonian general officers, formerly Yugoslav People’s Army officers, were most familiar with former Warsaw Pact military equipment. It was also cheap and readily available via the international arms market and from nearby Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav government (now Serb government) munitions company, Zavodi Crvena Zastava (Red Banner – ZCZ), and commonly known as Zastava, has a well known plant at Kragujevac and has produced a number of military weapons (many based on Soviet designs) as well as sporting arms and para-military weapons for export only. Most of the weaponry was older generation models but was better than nothing. Macedonia depended a great deal on Yugoslavia and Bulgaria for arms.

The army was totally unprepared for war with the Albanian separatists: it had 93 tanks operational – Bulgarian (the Bulgarian government made a gift of 150 tanks to the Macedonian Prime Minister during his first visit to Bulgaria in the winter of 1999) and other Warsaw Pact models; 112 howitzers; 40 M-48 light artillery pieces; and several thousand grenade launchers. Croatia quickly shipped Oganj rocket launchers to the Macedonian front. In June 2001 Macedonia purchased two K-52 Alligator helicopters, another four Mi-24 helicopters, six U.S. Huey medevac helicopters, and four Su-25 aircraft.

Today ARM has over 300 armored vehicles: about 120 tanks (T-55 and T-72), 11 Infantry BMP-2 fighting vehicles, over 200 armored troop transporters: TM-170 Hermelin, BTR-70, BTR-80, M-113, and Leonidas. Macedonian artillery includes multi-barrel rocket launcher systems BM-21 Grad (122mm) and M-63 Plamen (128mm), 108 D-30 howitzers (122mm), 36 M101A1 howitzers (105mm), and B-1 “mountain howitzers” (76mm), M-60 recoilless rifles (82mm) and 60mm, 82mm, and 120mm mortars. Much of this equipment came from Ukraine. The most numerous tank in service with the ARM is the Soviet-made T-55. In the future ARM may acquire modern T-84 tanks and new systems and armored personnel carriers.

Macedonia’s Air Force is limited to four Su-25 fighters, three Zlin-242L trainers, twelve Mi-24V/K “Hind” attack helicopters, four Mi-8MT combat-transport helicopters, three Mi-17 transport helicopters, and two multi-purpose UH-1H “Huey” helicopters. The air defense units are equipped with mobile air defense systems Strela-10M (Arrow-10M), Igla-1 and Strela-2M air defense systems, and 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft cannons.

Infantry Small Arms

Standard issue pistols were initially Jugoslav M57 Tokarevs in 7.62x25mm, the Model 70 and 70A Tokarevs chambered for 9x19mm Parabellum (designed with the export market in mind) and Zastava Model 83 .357 Magnum revolvers. The Model 57 is nearly identical to the Tokarev TT-33 except its magazine can hold an extra round, nine instead of eight. Soviet and Chinese magazines are not interchangeable with the M57 as the magazines are too short and the magazine feed lips do not reach the chamber. The M83 .357 Magnum is a double-action revolver with a variety of barrel lengths that will also fire .38 Special ammunition and can be adapted via a special cylinder to fire 9mm Parabellum ammunition. Also in service, though most commonly as a police sidearm, is the Model 70 7,65mm pistol. An eight shot “pocket pistol” it is a single-action only, blowback semiautomatic pistol. It can also be found as the M70(k) chambered for the .380 caliber / 9mm Kurz cartridge. Some officers may be armed with Czech pistols including the CZ75 and the CZ83. Macedonian special operations units may use a variety of US and European pistols.

Submachine Guns

ZCZ has also manufactured the Czech vz61 “Skorpion” under license as the Model 84 chambered for .32 ACP. ZCZ also produced a conversion of the M80 assault rifle similar to the AKSU74 or Krinkov design for special operations troops and armored vehicle and helicopter crews. The Zastava M85 submachine gun / assault rifle hybrid is only 22.4 inches in length with its bottom folding metal stock folded. Chambered for the 5.56x45mm NATO round it will accept either 20- or 30-round magazines.

Rifles

Before World War II Yugoslavia imported Turkish Mausers and Austrian Mannlichers, later converted to 7.92x57mm Mauser. The Czech 7.92x57mm Model 24 was also imported and then manufactured in Yugoslavia. After the war Yugoslavia manufactured a copy of the German KAR 98k 7.92mm Mauser as the Model 1948 that combined features of the M24. All Yugoslav Mausers have “intermediate”-size actions. While obsolete, these dependable 5-round bolt actions are yet in use by auxiliary police, civilians, and paramilitaries in Macedonia.

The first modern post-war military rifle produced in Yugoslavia was the M59 rifle, a variant of the Soviet SKS carbine. A variant of the M59 is the M59/66A1. Manufactured by Zastava it differs from the SKS / M59 design only by the addition of a muzzle mounted spigot grenade launcher which increases the barrel length to 24.39 inches (620mm). As on the SKS, the M59 series incorporates a folding blade bayonet. The increased length of the barrel with its grenade launcher reduces the protruding length, and therefore utility, of the bayonet. A folding ladder sight is mounted at the rifle foresight. Large numbers of these weapons are still in use and are frequently carried by second line troops of the Macedonian army. I observed Macedonian artillerymen carrying these rifles.

The current standard issue assault rifle is the M70B1 and its folding stock version, M70AB2 that is nearly identical to the Soviet 7.62x39mm AKM. They replaced the Model 64 assault rifle that used a 20-round magazine and featured a bolt stop. Like the M59/66A1 both rifles are equipped with a 22mm grenade-launcher screwed on to the muzzle. There is also a detachable muzzle brake/compensator. The ladder sight is connected to the end of the gas cylinder and the gas regulator, laying flat on the gas cylinder when folded down. When lifted to the vertical for use with the grenade launcher it blocks the gas cylinder, directing all gases to the muzzle for launching the grenade. Later models have replaced the wood furniture with black nylon/plastic hand guards, pistol grips, and stocks.

While the assault rifles are all chambered for the Soviet M43 7.62x39mm cartridge, Yugoslavia’s M76 sniper rifle (Poluautomatska Snajerska Puska) is chambered for the 7.92x57mm round. The design is similar to the Kalashnikov series: it uses the same basic firing mechanism, action, receiver, and gas cylinder design. The M76 is larger with an empty weight of 9.26 pounds (4.20kg) compared to the 8.15 pounds (3.7kg) of the M70 rifles. It loads from a 10-round detachable box magazine. A telescopic sight, the ON M76 (Opticki nisan) similar in design to the Soviet PSO-1 is mounted on the receiver and the M76 can also mount a passive night sight (Pasivni nisan), the PN 5×80, similar to the U.S. Army PVS-4 in appearance. The Black Arrow, a 12.7mm M93 anti-materiel rifle is also in use.

Machineguns

Following World War II, Tito’s forces were equipped with thousands of MG42 machineguns captured from the Germans. The Yugoslavs promptly copied the Mauser-Werke AG design and manufactured it as the M53. Chambered for the original 7.92x57mm cartridge, it continues to see service as a GPMG workhorse just as it was for the Wehrmacht. Large numbers were used by all combatants in the Balkan Wars 1991-1996. The M53 was largely supplanted in 1985 with the M84, Yugoslavia’s version of the Soviet PKM. A true GPMG, it is chambered for the 7.62x54R cartridge. In this design Kalashnikov mimics his AK operating system in the PK (the PKM is an improved, lightened version) and he literally turned it upside down and added an innovative feed mechanism. It incorporates Kalashnikov’s rotating bolt, the Czech Vz52 belt drive, Goryunov’s quick-change barrel and cartridge feed mechanism, and the DP trigger. Zastava copied the design but minor modifications added about two pounds to the original design, topping the weapon out at 22 pounds.

The Yugoslavs previously used the Model 64A and the Model 64B light machineguns (7.62x39mm), essentially Yugoslav M64 assault rifles with heavy finned barrels and light bipods. These were both supplanted by M72 Mitrajez squad automatic weapons like the M64, a Jugoslav variant of the Soviet RPK. The M72B1 has a fixed wood stock while the M72AB1 has an under-folding metal stock. Both weapons use the standard 30-round Kalashnikov magazine as well as a 75-round drum magazine.

Editor’s Note: CPT Rob Krott, USAR, has extensive experience with Balkan military forces. He joined the Croatian Army (HV) as a Commando officer in early 1992, and was awarded a Zahvalnica (commendation) form the Defense Minister and the Spomenicom Domovinskog Rata (Homeland War Commendation) Medal personally presented by the Prime Minister. In 1993 he was assigned as the training officer (S-3) for a Croat-Bosnia Defense Force (HVO) infantry brigade where he also led a special reconnaissance unit of “international volunteers.” In 1994 he visited his former enemies in Belgrade and Nis and maintains contact with several 63d Parachute Brigade (63 Padobranska Brigade) officers.

Sitrep Macedonia

A NATO-brokered peace agreement was signed on 13 August 2001 a few hours after Krott’s meeting at the Ministry of Defense. NATO’s Operation Essential Harvest deployed 3,500 troops from 13 countries (including about 2,000 British troops from the 16th Air Assault Brigade, 2nd Parachute Regiment, and a Ghurkha Company) in Task Force Harvest. The lead elements arrived on 17 August. On the mission start date, 26 August, Ian Collins, 20, of 9 Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers was killed when a concrete block was dropped on his vehicle from a highway overpass near Skopje. Anti-west sentiment continued: a Macedonian military vehicle was seen driving around Skopje with “NATO killers” painted on it and a British TV journalist was beaten by a mob. The US already had 500-700 troops stationed at Camp Able Sentry at Petrovec airport whose main role was to support the US KFOR contingent, Task Force Falcon, in Kosovo. The US also had a wide range of assets stationed at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. Some 200 troops, mostly from the 101st Airborne and military intelligence units, from Camp Able Sentry were detailed to TF Harvest.

During its 30-day mandate TF Harvest collected over 4,000 weapons, mostly Kalashnikovs, but also heavy machineguns, mortars, landmines, rocket launchers, and armored vehicles. Operations Essential Harvest was declared a success and terminated on 26 September 2001. Macedonia’s Prime Minister, Ljubco Georgievski, called the collection of 4,000 weapons “ridiculous and humiliating” claiming the NLA had boasted of an arsenal of over 60,000 weapons. On 28 September 2001 the NLA officially disbanded. Both belligerents requested that NATO peacekeepers remain in northwest Macedonia. Whether the Albanians have abandoned the establishment of a Greater Albania is open to conjecture.

The European Union finally took over peacekeeping duties in Macedonia from the NATO forces in March 2003. Prior to the change-over two Polish soldiers died on 4 March when a mine exploded under a patrol vehicle. The Honker vehicle driven by the Polish patrol of three soldiers and an interpreter hit a mine. Although there was speculation about a spring offensive by Albanian guerrillas, in reality there was scant support within the Albanian community for a renewal of the conflict. While there may be sporadic incidents a major offensive is not expected in the summer of 2003. Increasing unrest, demonstrations and shootings led many to believe that a resumption of hostilities was imminent. The chief threat was a somewhat mysterious group, the Albanian National Army (ANA), which has claimed responsibility for a number of recent terrorist attacks. The ANA, which opposes the Ohrid Peace Agreement in favor of a Greater Albania, threatened a full-scale offensive in the spring of 2003 that did not come to pass.

History of Macedonian Army

The attack on the Bulgarian police in Prilep on 11 October 1941 marked the beginning of the organized anti-fascist resistance of the Macedonian nation and paved the way to formation of the Macedonian armed forces. In March 1943, the main Headquarters of the People’s Liberation Partisan Corps of Macedonian was reorganized and renamed as the Headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army and of the Partisan Forces of Macedonia. The first unit of the National Liberation Army was a battalion “Mirche Acev,” (named after a hero of the resistance) formed on 18 August 1943. That day is considered the foundling day of organized Macedonian Army and it is celebrated as the Day of Army of Republic of Macedonia (ARM).

Organization and Equipment of the UCK/KLA/NLA

During the fighting in 2001 rumors were rife that the United States was playing both sides in the conflict, supporting both Macedonian and the Kosovo Liberation Army KLA/UCK and therefore the National Liberation Army (NLA). In truth many of the Albanians referred to as NLA guerrillas – inferring that they were all Albanian – Macedonians fighting for their rights – were actually KLA/UCK veterans and/or Kosovars trained by NATO as part of the Kosovo Protection Corps, fighting for the establishment of a Greater Albania. Western military observers found them too organized and well equipped to be a rag-tag group of freedom fighters in existence for a few months. The red and black emblems of the Albanian double-headed eagle with “UCK” emblazoned above it were seen on many uniforms, caps, and t-shirts and painted on equipment. NATO/KFOP officials admitted that some 20% might be from Kosovo.

The KLA/UCK first appeared in Macedonia in 1992. In 1995 the beginnings of armed resistance to the Serbs appeared, when the KLA carried out isolated attacks on Serb police. The KLA’s first public act was a series of bombings of police stations in Kosovo and Metohija in June 1996. Serb authorities quickly named it a terrorist organization.

The KLA is not a unified military organization subordinated to the political party of civil authority. It’s a lightly armed guerrilla movement whose members carry visible insignia and function as a disciplined military force organized in small, compartmentalized cells rather than a single large rebel movement. The KLA had a hardcorps of a few hundred trained commandos with the much larger remained locally organized in active cells throughout the region. The KLA typically performed actions in smaller groups, at times as few as three to five men. KLA strength swelled from about 500 active members at the beginning of1998 to a force of at least a few thousand men (though some estimates suggest that there were/are as many as 12,000 armed guerrillas).

Some KLA units are professionally trained as many were former Yugoslav army soldiers. The KLA functions very professionally underground, probably because some of its leaders are former members of UDBA (Yugoslavia’s Secret Police), the army, and the police. An Austrian radio reporter interviewed NLA fighters in Tetovo: one a local of Albanian descent and others who spoke Serbo-Croat but were Albanians with combat experience in Bosnia, Kosovo, and southern Serbia. During the war in the former Yugoslavia, it is established that over 5,000 ethnic Albanians fought in Croat and Muslin units. Two interviewees claimed the United States and other NATO countries trained them.

Serbia claimed the KLA employed about 1,000 foreign mercenaries from Albania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Muslims) and Croatia as well as German and British instructors. In Macedonia the NLA confirmed that in the Kumanovo region twelve British nationals, at least two Dutch volunteers, and a German were serving in NLA units. The “volunteers” were not of Albanian descent but were believed to have fought in some of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, including Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. The British contingent was based around the village of Slupcane. Senior Macedonian officials said they were aware that the NLA also included Europeans who were former KLA volunteers: “We know they are there but they are not significant – little more than drug addicts.” Most of the “mercenaries” in the NLA/KLA were Albanian nationals, especially former Albanian army officers, policemen and members of the state security forces.

Their equipment made its way into Macedonia from Kosovo, Albania, and also from southern Serbia, as these mountainous borders are porous for local smugglers. Until March 2998 the KLA used only light arms such as sporting rifles, old Yugoslav Army machine guns, SKS carbines, brand-new black market Zastava pistols, and an eclectic collection of obsolete, but functional World War II weaponry: Soviet PPSh41 and German MP40 submachine-guns and Mosin-Nagant 7.62x54R carbines. I saw several “PPSh41 submachine guns” in Macedonia captured from the Albanians. The Soviet PPSh41 was modified by the Yugoslavs in 1949 and manufactured as the Model 49. Instead of the typical 71-round drum magazine it incorporated a 35-round detachable box magazine. The Yugoslav M49 also exhibits better finishing and machining than the World-War-II-era Soviet PPSh41. An improved buffer was added and an improved bolt and spring adapted from the Beretta M38A. The Model 49 was replaced by an MP40 type design, the Model 56. Like the M49 it fires the 7.62x25mm Soviet pistol cartridge. It uses as 32-round curved magazine that is nearly identical to the PPS43 magazine. The Yugo M56 (see SAR, vol.2, no.7 April 99) is a combination of World War II Soviet and German design features. A 9mm version, the M65, was also manufactured. Both weapons are select-fire, open-bolt designs – uninspired but serviceable. Strangely, they both have a bayonet lug. The only conceivable use I can imagine for such a feature is for military policemen who may be guarding prisoners.

But more recently ethnic-Albanian forces have been armed with Chinese-made Kalashnikovs (stolen from Albanian Army stocks), RPG7s, German anti-tank rocket launchers, light machineguns (RPDs and RPKs) mortars, recoilless rifles, Serb “Black Arrow” 12.7mm sniper rifles, and anti-aircraft machine guns (DShK 12.7mm type), as well as other weapons produced in China and Singapore. The KLA also captured weapons from Serb army and special police (MUP) units and continued to acquire weapons from the European black market, with the odd Italian M4 Spectre 9mm submachine-gun or American made .50 caliber sniper rifle turning up in KLA/NLA hands. The Macedonian Army also captured SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles and .50 caliber sniper rifles from the NLA.

Infantry Weapons Produced in Serbia

Zastava Arms, Belgrade

* 12.7x107mm NSV heavy machine gun
* 5.45x39mm AKS-74U short assault rifle

Zastava Arms, Beograd

* 7.62x39mm AKM assault rifle

Zastava Arms

* MAB P15S 9mm pistol (French design, manufactured by Zastava)
* Zastava .357 Magnum Model 1983 revolver
* Zastava 7.62x25mm Model M57 and 9x19mm Model M70 and M70A pistols
* Zastava 7.65mm (.32 ACP) Model M70 and 9mm Kurz Model M70(k) pistols
* Zastava 9x19mm M88 and M88A pistols
* Zastava 7.65mm (.32 ACP) Model 84 machine pistol
* Zastava 7.62x25mm M56 sub-machine gun
* Zastava 5.56x45mm M82 and M82A light machine guns
* Zastava 7.62x39mm M59/66A1 rifle
* Zastava 7.62x39mm M70B1 and M70AB2 assault rifles
* Zastava 7.62x39mm M72B1 and M72AB1 light machine guns
* Zastava 7.62x51mm M77B1 light machine gun
* Zastava 7.62x54R M84 general purpose machine gun
*Zastava 7.92x57mm M53 general purpose machine gun
* Zastava 7.92x57mm M76 semiautomatic sniper rifle

Zavodi Crvena Zastava

* Zastava M1955 20mm cannon
* Zastava M86 30mm automatic cannon
*Zastava M89 cannon

Arms Proliferation

The Taliban had been unable to purchase arms legally, due to a UN arms embargo (UN Security Council Resolution 1076 of 22 October 1996. But prior to 1991 the country was flooded with military equipment and arms. The Soviet-Afghan War served as a testing ground for a wide array of new weaponry, including the BTR-80, BMP-2, AGS-17 grenade launcher, Vasilek 82mm automatic mortar, 9P140 Uragan multiple rocket launcher, several models of the Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunship, and the Su-25 Frogfoot attack aircraft. During the Soviet involvement/occupation (1986-90) the Soviet Union equipped Afghanistan with $5.7 billion worth of arms while the United States underwrote the Mujahideen to the tune of $5 billion during roughly the same period. Most equipment is of former Soviet origin. When the Soviets pulled out, their records indicated that the Afghan government forces equipment inventory included 1,568 tanks, 828 infantry fighting vehicles, more than 4,880 artillery pieces, 126 combat aircraft and 14 combat helicopters, 12 R-300 (Scud) missile launchers and 10 Luna-M (Frog) missile launchers.

Chinese equipment was supplied to the mujahideen during the 1980s as U.S. aid via Pakistan. Russian estimates (1991) of the mujahideen capabilities indicated 200,000 active guerrillas, 97 tanks, 60 BMPs, 100 APCs, over 5,000 anti-aircraft heavy machine guns, 3,500 mortars 2,000 recoilless rifles, and over 11,000 antitank weapons (RPGs). Some of these arms eventually became Taliban property while some were retained by independent groups after the Soviet withdrawal while some stocks were kept by the retreating government army after the Taliban captured Kabul. And some more recent supplies have come from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Small Arms

The average Taliban fighter is lightly equipped by Western standards. Load bearing equipment is minimal and is usually limited to Chinese type ammunition pouches worn on the chest and the occasional canteen and rucksack. Leather bandoleers are still used by some fighters, especially older Pakhtuns and tribal volunteers from Pakistan where these are widely used. The typical Taliban “uniform” is shalwar kameez and kurta (the traditional long cotton shirt and pajama pants), a black cotton turban, and in colder weather, foreign copies of the U.S. Army M65 pattern field jacket (which Bin Laden himself favored), civilian coats, civilian sweaters, and pukhoor wool blankets. The pakool or puhtee, a flat Chitrali wool cap is rarely if ever worn. Although popular with the mujahideen in the 1980s, it is now identified with the Northern Alliance and was favored by its commander, Shah Ahmad Masood. Helmets are rarely if ever seen, though Northern Alliance troops have paraded wearing helmets. Footgear is most commonly chapati sandals and sometimes tennis shoes. Boots are in short supply. However these are hardy men with, in many cases, years of experience fighting conventional military forces (the Soviets, the DRA Army, and the Northern Alliance) in the harsh terrain and climate of Afghanistan.

Besides the Kalashnikov assault rifle, which is the standard infantry weapon on both sides, there is no standardization of combat equipment. Taliban small arms include nearly everything in the pre-1990 Soviet armory. Of course the most common weapon is the Kalashnikov. Large stocks of these weapons were left behind by the Soviets and the DRA Army was equipped with them as well. The U.S. supplied Chinese made AKMs (Type 56 rifle) to the mujahideen and the Taliban has received military aid from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in the form of money and weapons shipments, mostly Chinese made arms. Large quantities of Soviet PPSh-41 submachine guns were dumped on the pro-government militias by the Soviets. Although a distant second choice to the Kalashnikov they can be found all over Afghanistan and could be used by militia forces and guerrillas. Limited numbers of the Soviet AK-74 firing the smaller caliber 5.45x39mm cartridge are found. The AKR or short-barreled AKSU versions of the Kalashnikov are extremely popular (and probably more so now that Bin Laden is always seen with one). The AKS-74U 5.45mm paratrooper carbine is closer to a submachine gun than a rifle. Good for close in work, it’s not the best weapon for the long range fighting found in Afghanistan’s mountains and plains. Although significant numbers of the AK-74, including those mounting the BG-15 40mm grenade launcher, were fielded in Afghanistan by Soviet troops before the withdrawal, ammunition supply is not reliable. Copies of the weapon and its ammunition are produced by Pakistan’s cottage weapons industry although specimens I examined were marked as .222 caliber.

As many as 60,000 Pakistani volunteers have already served with the Taliban. Pakistanis, especially Pakhtun or Pathan tribesmen from northwest Pakistan with strong links to the largely Pakhtun Taliban, may volunteer in large numbers. They can be easily equipped from their tribal weapons factories in the autonomous Pushtun tribal enclave of the old North West Frontier Province. A Krinkov .222 made in Pakistan costs 4500 rupees (about $100 US). In comparison an original Soviet TT-33 Tokarev pistol captured in Afghanistan sells for 10,000 rupees ($220) while the “best copy” of a Tokarev costs 3,000 rupees. That’s $67 for a semi-auto pistol. Authentic Kalashnikovs can be had for as little as $300. Weapons —everything from a British Sten gun chambered for 7.62 x 39mm and fitted with a Kalashnikov magazine to Webley .32 and .38 caliber revolvers to Mauser 98Ks or 8mm Kalashnikovs — can be made to order in the back alley gun shops of Darra Adam Khel and Sakhahot Malakand. Given enough time they can turn out copies of SVDs, PKMs, RPDs, Soviet anti-tank mines, grenades, small mortars, anti-aircraft guns, and heavy machine guns.

Machineguns and Anti-tank Weapons

The RPD, RPK, and PKM light and general-purpose machineguns are commonly found in Afghanistan. The DShK 12.7mm and KPV 14.5mm (known in Afghanistan as Dashika and Ziqriat) are in widespread use. Many of these heavier weapons are aging and harsh field use is showing. Barrels are worn on many machineguns. Given a protracted ground campaign without re-supply or replacement, these weapons will eventually succumb to the rigors of Afghan warfare. AGS-17 30mm automatic grenade launcher – a fearsome weapon for ground combat, although their use would depend upon the availability of spare parts and adequate stocks of ammunition. These weapons, first fielded in Afghanistan, are over ten years old. RPG-7s are prevalent and a favored Taliban weapon supplied from Soviet, Chinese, and Pakistani sources. Volley fire against armored targets or even helicopters can be expected. It is rumored that Bin Laden sent specially trained teams to Mogadishu to assist Aideed’s forces in shooting down American helicopters using this technique.

More effective for anti-tank use (especially versus Western armor) would be recoilless rifles. I had an opportunity to examine examples of recoilless rifles in use by Taliban troops. The SPG-9 75mm anti-tank gun and the obsolete B-10 (RG82) 82mm anti-tank gun that it replaced are the most common. While these weapons were serviceable, mounts were improvised, sights were damaged, and ammunition supplies were limited. How widespread this situation is can only be guessed at.

Mortars, Artillery, and Rocket Launchers

The only mortars I saw were 82mm M-1937 Soviet mortars. Other Soviet and Chinese produced mortars are certainly in the Taliban inventory. I saw a few D-30 122-mm Towed Howitzers with their unique three-trail carriage. A truck (Ural-375 or ZIL-131) or armored tractor is needed to tow it. One of the guns I saw sat in the open, without a transporter, crew or ammunition. This is the most common type of artillery available to the Taliban. Unless the Taliban has recently organizes and safeguarded these weapons, they exist only as solitary weapons pieced out to various commanders. The M-46 130-mm Towed Field Gun may pose a threat as at least two chemical projectiles have been fielded for this weapon. The 130 mm Sarin (nerve gas) projectile weighs 33.4 kg of which 1.6 kg comprises the Sarin CW agent that is dispersed by a TNT bursting charge. The other is a VX projectile weighing 33.4 kg of which 1.4 kg is the VX CW agent. It can’t be confirmed whether the Taliban have access to any of these munitions. The D-20 152-mm Towed Gun-Howitzer fires the following case-type, variable-charge, separate loading ammunition: FRAG-HE, CP, AP-T. Other types of ammunition include chemical, HE/RAP (range of 24000 m), HEAT, illuminating (S-540), smoke (D-540) and tactical nuclear (0.2 kT). The same types of chemical munitions used in the M-46 are available for the D-20.

Rocket Launchers: the BM-21 122-mm Multiple Rocket Launcher (40-round), the BM-27 9P144 Uragan (Hurricane) 220-mm Multiple Rocket Launcher (16 launching barrels firing range of up to 40 km) and the 9A52 300-mm Smerch Multiple Rocket Launcher are all used by the Taliban. Their disposition is the same as the Taliban artillery.

Wheeled Vehicles as Gun Mounts

Quickly impressed by the cross-country performance and versatility of Japanese pickup trucks in the war against the Soviets (nicknamed Ahu — the deer, pickup trucks were widely used in mujahideen operations in Kandahar, Helmand, Farah, and Nimroz provinces), the Taliban favor pickup trucks as an all-purpose vehicle for both combat and combat support roles. Equipped with large numbers of Toyota Hilux pickup trucks purchased in Dubai by Osama bin Laden, the Taliban militia can operate as motorized light infantry (or pickup truck cavalry) armed with machineguns, mortars, recoilless rifles, and light multiple rocket launchers (MRLs). With this mobility the Taliban respond quickly to offensive military action. Equipped with heavy machineguns and handheld RPGs that can be fired on the move, it is the Taliban’s principle troop carrier.

Taliban and Northern Alliance forces mount single-barrel and multi-barrel rocket launchers (BM-1, BM-12, Saqar-20, and Saqar-30) and DShK and ZGU-1 heavy machine guns on wheeled and tracked vehicles. Both combatants also have enhanced the firepower of light trucks and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles by fitting them with 32-shot 57mm rocket pods salvaged from combat helicopters (Mi-24 and Mi-25). Because of their combined mobility and firepower (each of the six blocks of rocket launchers takes 32 rockets and the impact area covers 500 square meters) they have been extremely effective in recent fighting.

Anti-Aircraft Guns

Defending Afghanistan on the ground it will be the ZSU 23-4, an anti-aircraft weapon mounting four 23mm cannons and a “Gun Dish” radar for fire control. The radars are probably not operational. The Taliban also have what appear to be ZPU 14-1s anti-aircraft cannon. Using heavy machine guns and ground-to-air missiles the mujahideen inflicted a heavy toll on Soviet helicopter gunships, but mostly in daytime attacks. The Soviets lost over 100 fixed wing aircraft and over 700 helicopters (35% of which were Hinds) from ground fire. Sophisticated U.S. helicopters like the Apache are expected to support any U.S. ground operations. It and the special operations Pave Low, can operate at night with pilots trained to fly with night vision goggles.

The Northern Alliance and its Military Organization

The anti-Taliban forces are a loose grouping known as the Northern Alliance. Also known as the United Front, its leaders ruled Afghanistan before the Taliban took control in 1996. The Northern Alliance has been fighting the Taliban since then. The alliance, under ousted President Burhanuddin Rabbani, is a mish-mash of the major political and ethnic groups in Afghanistan. Other groups, some without names and many small and inconsequential, who don’t want to be part of the Northern Alliance also fight against the Taliban.

The Iranian-Tajik clans in the eastern the provinces of Badakhshan, Takhar, Parvan, Kapisa, and, partly Kabul) and also in Herat and Ghowr provinces to the west are the traditional enemies of the mostly Pashtun Taliban. Tajiks make up about 20 percent of the Afghan population and occupy a similar proportion of territory. Nearly 75% of Northern Alliance troops are Tajik and in great part due to Masood’s long reign of military leadership are the most combat-capable. The Northern Alliance main forces are concentrated in the east of the Afghanistan on two fronts — the Panjshir Valley front and the Takhor front (along the Panj river).

The Northern Alliance’s military strength has been estimated as high as 50,000, but more realistic assessments (Jane’s World Armies) give the number at 20,000 or less. Like the Taliban, the size of Northern Alliance forces is subject to exaggeration. Troop strength fluctuates with the situation changes. It can’t afford to maintain a large standing force and like the Taliban it recruits additional fighters for large offensive operations.

The Northern Alliance is not a modern army. It doesn’t have well-organized, well-trained, and well-armed units capable of successfully conducting large-scale offensive operations. Northern Alliance forces are a hodge-podge assortment of armed groups, combining semi-professional leftovers of the old regime, tribal militias, former mujahideen groups, and ethnic-regional forces into a loosely unified opposition. In small groups, its forces are active all over the country and are in firm control of all or portions of six provinces in the northeast, about ten percent of Afghanistan. This territory includes old Soviet airfields that could be used as forward bases by U.S. aircraft or commando units. The Northern Alliance is eager to help the American effort. It already has been receiving military equipment from Russia, via Moscow’s close ally Tajikistan. The U.S. and Russia are arranging to provide the Afghan rebels with more. The apparent hope is that, in concert with U.S. aerial assaults and possible covert and special operations actions, the Northern Alliance might serve as the lever to topple the Taliban regime and make way for the installation of a more moderate and less anti-American government in Kabul.

Despite extensive combat experience most Northern Alliance leaders lack the skills and experience to command large combined arms (infantry, tank, artillery) units in tactical operations. Most Northern Alliance military leaders gained their war fighting experience during the protracted guerrilla warfare against the Soviet Army. The mujahideen usually operated in small groups of platoon strength (20-50 men) armed with small arms. When the situation required several of these “platoons” were combined in company sized units of 150-200 men or more. Larger mujahideen units were rare.

Weapons and Equipment

Before the Taliban took Kabul in 1996, Defense Minister Shah Ahmad Masood transferred a great number of heavy weapons and vehicles to his base in the Panjsher Valley. Many, including a largely inactive “artillery division” reportedly remain in storage because of fuel and ammunition shortages. When asked about Soviet weapons in use by the National Alliance, Zabed Naim, 43, a mujahideen veteran of the war against the Soviets and now a National Alliance troop leader, replied: “They are all past their lifespan. We need modern weapons. We need everything. If the Americans don’t help us we will still fight the Taliban with everything we have … if we don’t have guns, we will fight them with sticks.” Reports have filtered back from National Alliance that Russian units are equipping their fighters: everything from combat fatigues to BMP armored personnel carriers.

Russia has expressed its readiness to arm the Northern Alliance. Most weaponry in Afghanistan is already stamped “Made in USSR.” Warfare in Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain requires special tactics and equipment, fire support means, and methods of conducting combat operations. The Russians are already equipping the Northern Alliance: recent videos and photos from northern Afghanistan show Afghan soldiers in Russian camouflage fatigues, new rucksacks, and awkwardly wearing oversized Soviet Army helmets while attempting to march in step.

Russian Military-technical assistance to the “Northern Alliance” is put at $40-45 million. It’s expected that the Pentagon will pay for the Russian tanks and guns supplied to the Afghans. Besides large stocks of tactical field radios, spare parts, military rations, tools, fuel, combat load bearing equipment, and footwear, the Russian General Staff has decided to deliver the following:

Small Arms

Kalashnikov assault rifles (models and calibers unspecified), light and company (general purpose) machineguns, grenade launchers, SVD rifles (Dragunov sniper rifle) and SKS carbines (Simonov Self-loading Carbine). Because of the extreme ranges of many infantry-on-infantry engagements the Dragunov sniper rifle (SVD) and the DShK 12.7mm machine gun (in service since World War II) are still considered the most popular weapons in Afghanistan. Small arms, such as assault rifles, obsolete submachine guns, machine guns, and sniper rifles, can also be supplied in mass amounts as large quantities of un-issued and still serviceable small arms have been stored in arsenals since World War II. This is an opportunity for the Russians to dump old ordnance and gain hard currency from the US in exchange. The Northern Alliance Army lacks ammunition for all weapons so aging surplus Soviet Army stocks can be expended before their “sell by date” is reached. Not mentioned but probably included in the weapons aid will be Shmel rocket-flamethrowers. They proved very effective in Afghanistan in the past and would be of use in the Taliban’s cave redoubts.

Vehicles and Heavy Weapons

The Northern Alliance, a conglomeration of poorly equipped light infantry and irregular guerrillas, desperately needs troop transporters (trucks), jeeps , and armored vehicles. Soviet infantry fighting vehicles are adequate for mountainous terrain. T-55 and T-62 tanks, BTR-60 armored personnel carriers (essentially armored taxis for infantry squads), and BMP-1 and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles (IFV). Some may be veterans of combat in Afghanistan, 1979-89. The BMP-1 is a fully armored Amphibious Infantry Fighting Vehicle. Its low-silhouetted hull has a sharp, sloping front with a conspicuously ridged surface. It mounts a 73mm smoothbore gun (firing a rocket-assisted, fin-stabilized HEAT projectile) and a 7.62mm coaxial machine-gun. A launching rail for an AT-3 Sagger antitank guided missile attaches above the gun. These vehicles are considered obsolete for front line Russian Army use, but are ideally suited to Afghanistan. The more modern BMP-3 IFVs are equipped with a 100mm launcher-cannon, a 30mm automatic cannon, and three 7.62mm machine guns. These first echelon combat vehicles are in short supply in the Russian Army and will not be sent as aid. However, it’s possible that the new BTR-80 armored personnel carrier, (equipped with the KaMAZ engine) will be given to the Northern Alliance. Minimal training is needed for crews as some Afghan fighters will be familiar with the vehicles. The Northern Alliance is scheduled to receive 50 tanks and 80 IFVs by December 1, 2001.

Russia will also contribute forty 23mm ZSU-23-4 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, two batteries of 100mm antitank guns, six batteries of 122mm D-30 howitzers, four batteries of 120mm 2B11 mortars, and three batteries of 82mm 2B9 automatic mortars. The Russians may supply ten 122mm 9K51 Grad multiple rocket launchers, Grad-P portable launchers, and Malyutka and Fagot antitank missile systems as well as six Mi-24 Hind helicopters six Mi-8 transport helicopters. The BM-21 Grad and BM-27 Uragan multiple rocket launchers are serious support weapons. A salvo from one Uragan launcher’s sixteen 220mm barrels covers a 42 hectares at a range of 10-35 km. Company and battalion mortars ( 60mm and 82 mm) will round out the indirect fire support.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s mountains, desert, and plains are home to nearly 27 million people from more than thirty different ethnic groups. The annual per capita gross domestic product is US$800. Average life expectancy for an Afghan male: 47 years; and for a woman: 45 years. Adult literacy is only 32 percent. There is one telephone for every 925 people. Afghanistan, which is about the size of Texas, has only 1,700 miles of paved road (and speaking from experience most of that is badly potholed and rutted).

Ultra-religious, unsophisticated, and culturally isolated the Taliban was initially welcomed as a unifying and stabilizing force in Afghanistan but its religion-based cruelty and suppression of basic human rights has made it very unpopular with a significant percentage of the population. Their power base is rooted in the Pahktun or Pushtun people – a Pashto-speaking tribal group numbering about 10 million in Afghanistan (40% of the population) and another 5 million in Pakistan.

As everyone now knows Afghanistan’s terrain and weather are impediments to any military action. Geographically and climatically, Afghanistan is very brutal territory. Rugged and isolated, full of mountains and caves where Taliban troops and terrorists may hide, it is an extremely hostile environment. Afghanistan is one of the most densely mined countries in the world and landmines and unexploded ordnance from over twenty years of war will present hazards. The Taliban has extended the network of underground bunkers and caves used by the mujahideen during the Soviet occupation. Impending winter with its freezing temperatures, heavy snow fall, and high winds will impede special operations forces seeking bin Laden and his men in the mountains and passes. There will be virtually no local supplies and the attendant logistical problems will mirror those encountered during Operation Restore Hope (Somalia).

Recommended Reading:

The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan. Lester W. Grau and David M. Glantz, trans. Washington: NDU Press, 1996. (Also released with minor changes under the same title, London and Portland, Ore.: Frank Cass, 1998.)

The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. Jalali, Ali Ahmad, and Lester W. Grau Quantico, Va.: US Marine Corps Combat Development Command, 1998 (SCN: DM-980701). A limited-distribution study provided to university and service school libraries.

Russia’s War in Afghanistan, David Isby, London: Osprey Publishing, 1986.

Many of LTC Grau’s and COL Jalali’s (Afghan Army) articles on combat in Afghanistan can be found on the internet at: http://www.angelfire.com/sd/tajikistanupdate/artorg.html

The narrow point of the Khyber Pass is at Ali Masjid. Above the Ali Masjid mosque sits the Ali Masjid fort, which overlooks the entire Khyber Pass. Here the road is one way as it’s only thirty meters or so wide. Before it was widened two camels could not walk abreast. To fully appreciate the Khyber Pass you must imagine trying to escape through the pass on foot while being shot at by Pathan snipers. Testifying to the near impossibility of such a feat, is a British cemetery full of graves from the Second Afghan War of 1879. The Khyber Pass walls bear the insignia of many British regiments, such as the Royal Sussex, the Gordon Highlanders, and the South Wales Borderers, to name but a few. Mute testimony to the far-flung reaches of a vanished empire, they reminded me of the arrogance of Daniel Dravot and Peachey Carnehan in Kipling’s The Man Who Would be King. At 1,200 meters in elevation, sitting at the end of the Khyber Pass railway and just eight kilometers from Afghanistan is Landi Kotal. Formerly “contraband city” full of hash and guns for sale and the plush homes of rich smugglers hidden behind compound walls, the smuggler’s trade has now moved to the Karkhanai Bazaar near Peshawar. After Landi Kotal the road forks: left to the Afghan border and right to Khyber Rifles headquarters. Bearing left it didn’t take long before we crested the last hill at Michni checkpoint to see the border post at Torkham. Beyond that lays Afghanistan. Unless you have a special pass and an Afghan visa this is the last stop — fifty-eight kilometers from Peshawar. The Michni guards are Khyber Rifles regulars armed with .308 Paki G-3s. These and our guard’s Kalashnikov were just about the only weapons I saw which weren’t locally made.

Cottage Industry

Situated about 25 miles south of Peshawar in the middle of the NWFP on the road to Kohat is Darra Adam Khel, a small village boasting about 100 gun shops and noted for its cottage firearms industry. Darra was responsible for equipping the bulk of the Mujahideen during the early days of the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Darra Adam Khel’s sole industry is weapons manufacturing. The town’s mom-and-pop gun shops house a cottage weapons industry unparalleled any where in the world. Darra produces about 20,000 firearms a year. With the average weapon selling for $100 that’s conservatively 2 million dollars a year being injected into this little village’s economy. Other than making guns or firing guns there’s not much else to do. Oh, yeah, there’s always hand loading the empty brass.

I went to the Home and Tribal Affairs office for a travel pass. An officious and obnoxious little Punjabi told me no. A discussion followed that finished with the comment: “It (Darra) is closed and I have no reason. If you decide to close one of your states to foreigners, you may do that (in your country).” Darra is frequently “officially” closed. Especially during the periods of heightened tribal and political unrest. The bureaucrats prohibit travel to Darra by foreigners, because of the very real possibility of kidnapping — a Pathan tribal specialty (ransom is 200,000 to 300,000 rupees or about $4,500 to $6,700). So travel to Darra is seldom authorized.

Here’s how unauthorized travel to Darra usually works: after finding and paying a guide/translator and a driver you proceed to Darra. At each police checkpoint you contribute to the local police officer’s personal pension fund. Surreptitiously slipping a wad of dirty rupees to the guide/translator who then mumbles a few entreaties in Pashto while presenting this baksheesh to the policeman, leaves you free to go. On the buses which service Darra the Pushtuns carrying weapons pay a set price to these same policemen. The size of the bribe is commensurate with the type of contraband weapon — say, 50 rupees for a pistol and 100 rupees for a Kalashnikov.

There has been less demand for weapons since the withdrawal of the Soviets, but the shops of Darra and others like them still do a good business supplying the various political factions, tribal groups, and, yes, criminals which occasionally make Pakistan (especially Sind and Punjab) a dangerous place to be. Inspector Pir Iqbal and sub-Inspector Adnan Orkzal of the Frontier Police in Peshawar told me there are over 7,000 Kalashnikovs in private hands in Karachi, the capital, where ethnic and political violence had broke out anew with nearly 300 people being killed in the past few months. Guns are also run into Kashmir, the new border flashpoint between Pakistan and India.

Nooristan Gun Factories

While not as well known as Darra there are also gun factories in Nooristan (not to be confused with the Nuristan across the border, but just as remote). In the village of Sakhakot near the famous Buddhist ruins at Takht-e-Bahi we picked our way along the muddy street as two mangy curs fought over some scrap. Small boys ran up to tug us toward some shops. A man wearing the traditional shalwar kameez, sandals, and a pakol – the flat, rolled pancake beret peculiar to Chitral, walked by with three rifles slung over his shoulder so we knew we were in the right place.

The gun shops of Sakhahot Malakand in the Azam Khan Market are small with the manufacturing sheds of mud-brick and tin located in the back alleys. Using standard patterns these artisans can crank out any of a dizzying array of firearms in a day on their small forges and meager collection of drill presses. A light machine gun completely made by hand would take a while, say ten days to two weeks. Also available are fragmentation grenades (do you want to trust these fuses?), anti-tank mines, small mortars, anti-aircraft guns, and heavy machine guns — mostly copies of the detritus left by the Soviet Union’s failed Afghan adventure. Weapons can also be made to order. Authentic Kalashnikovs can be had for as little as $300, but your made in Pakistan copy may be a better bargain. I mean, who wouldn’t want their very own “Special Rolex” Kalashnikov?

Weapons parts and loaned tools gripped in their greasy hands, small boys scurried to and fro. Schooling is considered unnecessary for an eight year old who can already file out a Tokarev frame in his father’s gun shop. One of the gun builders was smoking hash. I lit his joint for him with my Zippo and immediately wondered what the effect might be on the weapon’s tolerances. There was an interesting and eclectic collection of hybrid weaponry here: a British Sten gun chambered for 7.62 x 39mm and fitted with a Kalashnikov magazine. A very poor man’s AK, I guess. The idea of firing it made me a little nervous. I wouldn’t want to fire one of these, especially the ones chambered for rifle cartridges. Even without knowing the psi generated in the chamber, operating a submachine gun designed for a pistol cartridge with a muzzle velocity of 1280 fps versus the Kalashnikov round’s 2330 fps is not a smart bet.

There were other variations on the Sten including double magazine equipped weapons in bizarre calibers such as .32 ACP or .30 caliber US carbine. Given the history of the area I wasn’t surprised to see so many copies of British military and sporting small arms including: Webley .32 and .38 caliber revolvers, more Webleys in any caliber imaginable, British Smith and Wesson .38 revolvers, Sten guns, and British .303 SMLEs (very popular especially with the older gentlemen who grew up with this weapon). Another good dependable bolt gun, the Mauser 98K, is also very common.

While the CETME rifle or G-3 is made under license in Pakistan these weapons are too complicated for the backyard machinists to fabricate. But the Pathan gun makers copy the G-3 magazine and barrel and use them with a Mauser bolt action in .308 / 7.62 NATO to make a weird hybrid complete with knurled pistol grip, military sights, and heavy straight stock with butt plate. There were bolt action AK-style hybrids including one 8mm Kalashnikov and various bolt guns with Kalashnikov actions or parts.

There were many Tokarevs in various calibers including .32 ACP as calibers larger than this are difficult to own in other parts of Pakistan, hence the popularity of this less than adequate caliber. I handled an interesting folding stocked semi-auto pistol incorporating Broomhandle Mauser and Tokarev design features which seemed to be a popular design in all the shops. I don’t know what to call it, but I want one.

Custom orders were not a problem. You name it and these guys build it … with varying degrees of effectiveness. I was told I could order an M79 Grenade Launcher or a 9mm Luger. While I did manage to send home a muzzle loading jezail from Kabul what I really wanted was a perfect copy of a 9mm Artillery Luger with snail-drum magazine and shoulder stock holster. While the workmanship appeared good (in many cases I couldn’t tell the difference from a factory piece without a detailed examination) the quality of the materials is still in doubt. Early on guns were made from old iron railroad rails and scrap metal. Now the steel is supposedly imported from Belgium, though I think several weapons were truck springs, construction rebar, or car frames in a previous life. Factor in unsophisticated forgings, castings from scrap, and parts filed from blanks of sub-standard steels and you’ve got to wonder if these weapons will hold up under the pressures generated by modern cartridges.

But the prices are certainly attractive: a Krinkov .222 made in Pakistan costs 4500 rupees (about $100 US). In comparison an original Soviet TT-33 Tokarev pistol captured in Afghanistan sells for 10,000 rupees ($220) while the “best copy” of a Tokarev costs 3,000 rupees. That’s $67 for a semi-auto pistol. According to Peer Alasha, a gun dealer “All Kinds of Arms and Ammunition Available Here” in Sakhahot, I’d just missed some excitement by about four hours. Early that morning the MCB bank just up the street was knocked off by six men with Kalashnikovs and robbed of 6 million rupees. Hmm. Wonder where they got the guns?

I wanted to test fire a couple of the more interesting weapons, but that wasn’t going to happen. They wouldn’t let me fire a locally made rifle: “Sometimes they blow up and the pieces could hit you in the head.” That answered my questions about quality assurance. Robert Pelton of The World’s Most Dangerous Places TV show wanted to video some weapons being fired so for a little product sampling we followed Ali Khan down a narrow alley between the gun shops and across a field to a promontory overlooking a river gorge. The weapons were a locally fabricated Tokarev and an authentic Chinese AKM (Type 59). I wasn’t too excited about the choice of weapons as I’ve fired a lot of Tokarevs and countless Kalashnikovs. I wasn’t too happy about the ammunition cost either: they wanted 800 rupees ($18) for a handful of rounds.. Pelton banged away with the Chinese Kalashnikov. Next was the pistol so I stepped up to pop a few caps. “It’s a very good copy,” I was told. Ejection was poor with every other round hanging up. Every time it jammed I would execute an immediate action drill. And every time it malfunctioned Ali would reach around to grab the weapon out of my hand. He nearly got a 7.62mm pistol round through his palm. On purpose. I finally gave him an elbow and told him to just let me shoot the damn thing.

The ammo was poor quality as well (which probably had a lot to do with the ejection problems) and I could discern differences in loads of the locally manufactured ammunition via the change in sound and recoil. While ammunition was a problem in the past (gun makers fabricated their own cartridges by reloading spent casings, using melted scrap for bullets, mixing their own powder, recasting old bullets, and re-priming old primers with match heads) you can now buy “factory” loads albeit still made in Pakistan. These rounds, as demonstrated with the Tokarev, are less than dependable.

Khyber Pass Guns

The next day, joined by “Baba,” a white-bearded bespectacled Pathan bearing a striking resemblance to Crumb’s “Keep on Truckin’” caricature, we went out to the gun bazaar just past the Khyber Pass do not enter sign for some more “shopping.” I inspected one of the notorious .22 caliber “Stinger” pen guns which crudely resembles a ballpoint pen. A favorite of tourists and also the Paki airport police and customs inspectors who know just what to look for on the X-ray machine at the Peshawar airport. There’s also the risk of being informed upon by the seller or any of the various hangers-on who seem to follow foreigners around. It is illegal for a foreigner to purchase a weapon. The dealers know this but are more than willing to sell you a piece anyway. Outside the tribal areas Pakistan has fairly strict gun laws governing the licensing and registration of rifles and pistols. Possession of an illegal firearm and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime carry harsh penalties.

The following day we went to Baba’s village, Regi, a series of walled compounds separated by narrow streets and alleys. Machine gun posts and gun ports on cornices provide interlocking fields of fire with their neighbors, usually related by blood or marriage. The Pushtuns are famous for kidnapping, yet I could travel unmolested into some of these border villages and have tea in the family compounds under protection of malmastia, one of the tenets of Pukhtunwali.

Entering the compound of some of Baba’s kinsmen we had some tea and I met a dizzying array of cousins. Finally we all piled into some Toyotas and drove out to a nearby riverbed for some shooting. The targets were Pepsi cans set up at the bottom of the riverbank which served as an eight-foot high backstop. On top of the bank in the fields beyond were several people working while cows milled about near the top of the bank. When I pointed this out I was told not to worry, just be careful! I knew if I hit somebody with a ricochet I’d never get out of there alive. Of course I got first crack. Someone handed me an AK saying it’s zeroed for 60-70 meters. I checked the rear sights. The target was about 75 meters away. No problem. There was now a crowd of about 40 or 50 spectators, mostly men carrying weapons. It was time to earn some credibility. I’ve been in similar situations before, but never with friendlies wandering around the target area. I heard some muttering behind me and assumed some rupees were being wagered. I placed the selector on semi-automatic, chambered a round, took a good stance, checked my stock weld and sight picture, and dropping into the “rice paddy prone” (which surprised a few people) I immediately snapped off one round. BANG! and a pop can went flying into the air. There was a large collective shout and I cranked off six more rounds, keeping the pop cans dancing as everyone clapped and cheered. Baba was effusively happy, clapping me on the back as I handed back the Kalashnikov.

After some more plinking some one handed the weapon back to me and I burned off a magazine using three round bursts. The Pathans had demurred when I flicked the selector to full-auto. They tend to hose the general area of the target on full-auto and I had to prove to them that I could put all rounds on target on full-auto. Baba wanted me to burn a magazine off into the air. Something these boys occasionally do. Unfortunately what goes up must come down. I had to field strip the AK to demonstrate my proficiency as Baba was bragging I was a weapons expert.

We went back to the house for more tea. In the front room (for guests) was an oil portrait of the family patriarch, Captain Khan Bahader Abdul Qadir Khan, an officer in the British Army’s frontier force, mustachioed, turbaned, and bemedaled with sword. A very imposing figure, Captain Khan entered the military service in 1901 and retired in 1935. The assembly of about a dozen young and middle-aged men were all very proud of their grandfather. This sense of history and reverence of one’s distinguished ancestors is another admirable trait of Pathan culture.

As I was admiring the portrait one of the young men, Mohammed Ali Kalil, asked me if I liked duck hunting. Well, hell, yes! One of the cousins brought out a leather gun case. When they snapped it open there on the velvet was an immaculately preserved .12 gauge Greener double barrel E17 grade shotgun. A silver plate on the butt stock announced it as a gift commemorating the captain’s thirty-four years of service. My admiration of the shotgun and Captain Khan’s illustrious military career led to a general discussion of weaponry and soon I was being handed M-16s (Iranian arsenal stamps), an SVD, a PKM, and an RPD which all appeared as if from nowhere. I was told there were five M-16s on the compound and they were very popular with the Pathans. Some one made a joke and I was told to look up. Near the ceiling was a space all along one wall. There must have been a catwalk because behind the wall were three men laughing and smiling while brandishing weapons. I was glad I was a friend. You don’t want to be an enemy in the land of the Pathans.

SAR Military Affairs Correspondent Rob Krott has traveled extensively for the TV show The World’s Most Dangerous Places which can be seen on the Travel Channel. He hasn’t shot anything, or anybody, with his Afghan jezail.

In addition to all of this is an extensive collection of artillery and armor, several aircraft, and even a German one-man submarine. The submarine, called the Molch (Salamander), is an 11-ton one-man boat. All electric and designed for coastal operations with a small range of 40 miles at 5 knots they look like a large torpedo. These boats were designed to travel submerged only and carried two torpedoes slung underneath. The first of 393 such boats was delivered on June 12, 1944, all the boats were built by A G Weser in Bremen. The Molch on display is #391. The Molch were used in the Mediterranean in a desperate action against the Allied invasion of the French Riviera coast. Twelve Molch were part of the K-Verband 411 flotilla and on the night of 25/26 September 1944 they attacked, sinking or damaging nothing for the loss of 10 out of the 12.

Bernie Mueller, a German pilot and close friend, was very pleased to see a ME-262 — the German Luftwaffe’s first operational jet fighter of World War II. It was fitted with radar as a night fighter. Also on display was an ME-BF 109 F-2/Tropical of the III Gruppe Jagdeschwader 72, captured at Marble Arch in the Libyan Desert by No. 7 Squadron SAAF in 1942. The aircraft displays also include another Messerschmit 109, a Focke Wolf 190, a Hawker Hurricane, a De Haviland Mosquito, a Supermarine Spitfire, a Dasault Mirage III, a De Haviland Buccanneer, a Tiger Moth, and planes from World War I — all in pristine condition. And ready to shoot them down is a 2cm Flugzeugabwehr Rahone (Flak) 30 gun.

The armor displays included a wide variety of tanks and armored vehicles. Particularly interesting was the Carro Leggero 3/35 Italian Light Tank. This two-man tank was developed from the British Carden-Lloyd series of ‘tankettes.’ It was bolted together with no rivets. Armament was twin 8mm machineguns — adequate for use against infantry in the WWI or against spear-carrying Abyssinian tribesmen, but useless for combat in World War II. The planes and tanks were all “cool,” but what I was here for was the small arms collection. And in that regard, the museum’s collection was definitely worth my ticket price. The development of South African small arms is traced from the early 1840’s using approximately 100 weapons on display including the first models of both the R1 and R4 assault rifles used by the South Africa armed forces.

Antique Arms

There were some great historical pieces here including several matchlocks, percussion lock muskets dating from the 1825 -1860 era, 1865-1875 era breechloaders, a Westley-Richards falling block carbine, a Swinburn’s Patent 1875 rifle, a modified Peabody-Martini caliber .450 rifle made by V & R Blakemore of London, a Colt Revolving Rifle from the 1850s, and something you’ll probably never see anywhere else: a Naval Model, seven-barrel volley gun, 2nd type circa 1787 handcrafted by Henry Nick. Only 655 of these “deck-clearers” were made for the British Admiralty.

The Boer War

Prominent in the museum’s firearms collection were two weapons used extensively in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. In 1899, the British Army adopted the Maxim Automatic Machine Gun (later, variations were known as the Vickers). It was a water-cooled .303 caliber weapon with a rate of fire of 450 rounds per minute. When filled with water and loaded, it weighed about 70 pounds. A converted Maxim machine gun, firing a one-pound percussion-fused shell, was adopted for service by the Boers. Known as the “Pom Pom” (from the sound the gun made when firing) it was the first use of automatic light artillery in land warfare. The Pom-Pom was simply a large caliber, belt-fed machine gun firing explosive rounds. Relatively light caliber it “did little damage” but the sound of the gun and the shell burst tested the nerve of soldiers (it indicated more rounds still incoming). It was hard to locate on the battlefield as the smokeless ammunition (some of the first of its kind) produced little or no firing signature. Canvas belts held 25 brass-cased rounds carrying explosive charges with their percussion fuses. The first line of ammunition of 12 belts was transported in containers on a limber. First-hand accounts describe the Pom-Pom as being very effective; standard artillery, mostly, could still be avoided by quickly taking cover in the interval between the flash indicating the firing of the shell and its arrival. The Pom-Pom, on the other hand, could keep up a continuous stream of fire, to devastating effect. On display in front of the museum entrance is a German “Pom-Pom” surrendered to General L. Botha at Khorab, South West Africa, 19 July 1915. Markings (3.7cm Masch. K Nr. 543) identified it as a “Maxim” made by the “Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken, Berlin 1909.

The Boer War was definitely “the war of the rifle” as two very well known bolt-action, magazine fed military rifles made their combat debut during the conflict. The British Army, which had seen plenty of action against native tribesmen in Africa and the Near East, hadn’t faced a professional standing army since the Crimean War. But in the last days of the 19th century they squared off against a determined foe accustomed to the rigors of the bushveldt, fighting on their home ground, and armed with probably the finest rifle of its age… the Mauser M1896 7 x 57mm Carbine. The Mauser M1896 carbine used stripper clips making it much faster to load than the British Lee Metford rifles. It’s a lightweight and dependable weapon. The front sights are the standard pyramidal without guards and the rear is a V-shaped open sight. The rear sights could be adjusted from 400 to 1,000 meters (this was the age of long range massed rifle fires). I’ve been told that with the rifle set on 400 meters the round will strike about two feet high at 100 meters. The Boer Mauser was definitely not designed for snapshooting at close range. I think it would take some practice to hold low at near targets, especially if they were charging you and/or shooting at you. I would guess that the sights were modified or adjusted for use in the bushveldt. Several of these rifles are on display at the museum including a 7mm Mauser (1895) supplied to the Orange Free State and Transvaal made by Deutsche Waffen Munitionsfabriken, Berlin and Ludwig and Loewe & Co. The Ludwig & Loewe rifles are referred to as the Mauser Model 1896 but according to experts are actually 1895 Mausers. These weapons are in a display titled “Mausers and Mannlichers” and had this Boer quote on a placard: “United in the Fight for Freedom and Justice — God and the Mauser. Greetings from South Africa’s Battlefields”

While not equipped with the Mauser, the British had an excellent battle rifle as well. In 1887, the British Army issued the .303 Lee-Metford Mark I Rifle as a replacement for the .45 Martini Henry Mark III issued in 1871 and the .402 Enfield Martini Rifle issued in 1886. [The British Army had been slow to adopt the breach-loading designs being developed in Europe and America, though eventually by the time of the Zulu War of 1879 the standard issue rifle was the famed, breach-loaded, single- shot Martini Henry. The main problems with the Martini Henry were its weight, its length, and its single-shot action.] The Lee Metford was shorter, had a smaller bore, a bolt action, and a magazine holding eight rounds loaded separately. The Lee-Metford rifles used the turn-bolt action developed by James Paris Lee, a Scots-born American inventor, and the barrel and rifling designed by William Metford. Firing a relatively smaller cartridge than the .45 or .402 Martinis the Lee-Metford was a drastic change for the British Army at that time.

The Lee-Metford’s accompanying bayonet had a 12-inch blade and weighed 15 ounces and the rifle’s magazine held eight rounds; the .303 round then in use having a brass cartridge and being filled with 70 grains of fine black powder. In 1892, the Lee-Metford Mark I was issued and in 1898, the year prior to the Boer War, the Lee-Metford Mark II Rifle was issued to the British Army. The latter two rifles had cordite filled rounds. In 1900, the Lee-Enfield Magazine Rifle Mark I was produced. It had a detachable 10-round magazine box. It was made available for colonial troops fairly readily but as the British Army had been re-equipped with the Lee-Metford Mark II, the latter was the individual weapon for the British infantry soldier in South Africa. In 1897, the British cavalry were issued with the .303-inch Lee-Enfield Carbine Mark I. The carbine weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces against the 9 1/4 pounds of the Lee-Enfield Rifle; the rear sight was scaled to 2,000 yards against the 2,800 yards maximum range of the rifle. The .577/.450 inch Martini-Henry Mark I Rifle was also still in service and a nice example of this rifle is on display.

Meanwhile, in 1889 in Germany, the Mauser Rifle superseded the converted Mauser in use at that time. Weighing 9 pounds, 8 ounces, it was fitted with a 5-round magazine filled by pressing the rounds from a clip. On display was a good example of a Boer leather waistcoat with clip pockets — the “web gear” of the Boer War. With one of these functional garments on they could carry a good basic load of ammunition with ease. We’ve now come almost full circle with the usage of “combat assault vests.” Experience in the Boer War led Britain to adopt the European system for loading in bundles of five rounds. The Lee-Metford Mark II Rifle was converted to this system in 1902 and in the same year the Lee-Enfield Rifle using the same technique was issued.

The commando laws of the Boer Republics required all able-bodied males between 16 and 60 years of age to possess a rifle and the necessary ammunition. In 1888 General Piet Joubert, a Boer leader, decided Boer citizens were still inadequately armed, and the government began importing large numbers of Martini-Henry rifles that could be bought for four pounds sterling. In the three years prior to the outbreak of the war the Boer’s South African Republic (ZAR) known as the Transvaal, bought a total of more than 33,000 Martinis from the Birmingham firm of Westley-Richards. Throughout this period Boer burgher were still able to buy firearms privately, and this was why the Boers were armed with such a wide variety of weapons when the Boer War broke out. The 8mm Austrian Guedes rifle, similar in design to the Martini-Henry, was one of the last single shot rifles developed for a European power and were obsolete before they were delivered to Portugal as ordered. Portugal had already placed orders for the new M1886 Kropatschek repeating rifles before the Guedes were shipped. Seeing an opportunity, the Steyr factory sold the unwanted Guedes rifles to South Africa’s Boers. In total, 13,000 Guedes rifles were ordered in the two years prior to 1890. In 1893 General Joubert took a liking to the Guedes rifle, and an additional 5,305 of Guedes rifles were bought before the end of 1895. With the growing inevitability of war with Britain, the first few weeks of 1896 saw a frenzied search ensue throughout southern Africa for all available Guedes and Martini rifles. Eventually a further 2,200 Guedes rifles were acquired. The Norwegian Krag-Jorgensen rifle was brought to General Joubert’s attention around this time, receiving a favorable reception. But owing to supply difficulties only 300 of these were bought, along with 20 carbines. Also in 1896 the general’s attention was drawn to the model 1893 Spanish Mauser. This also found favor with the Transvaal forces and an order was placed for 20,000 Mauser rifles and 5,000 Mauser carbines. In the following year an additional 10,000 rifles and 2,000 carbines were ordered by the Boers. A total of 500 Mauser sporting rifles also were acquired in 1899, but a final order for 4,000 Mauser rifles could not be delivered owing to the British blockade of Laurenco Marques. One of the reasons for the size of these orders was the ability of the Berlin-based manufacturer to deliver.

Obviously, Boer small arms varied considerably. In addition to the aforementioned Mausers, Martini-Henrys, Guedes, and Krag-Jorgenson rifles a variety of personal hunting rifles and other weapons were employed as well. Boer forces also used shotguns; this is entirely likely, given that recruiters advised Boers to bring their own “…Rifle, ammunition, Horse, saddle and bridle, [and] food for eight days” to their mustering point. Throughout the war, of course, and especially during the guerilla phases where re-supply was no longer a possibility, many Boers took to using captured British weapons. Ammunition for these weapons could be stolen or captured, and although the weapons themselves were less than ideal, they were better than none at all. Weapons in the museum collection that were a long way from home included a Winchester ’76 .45-60, a Winchester 1895 box magazine rifle in .405, and a 30-40 Krag 1898 (Springfield Armory version). These weapons may have been used by the Boers or any of the American adventurers fighting alongside the British (the most famous of these was Major Frederick Russell Burnham, who was awarded the DSO while serving as chief of scouts for Baden-Powell.)

Other bolt-action rifles on display in the Johannesburg Museum include the relatively rare 6.5 mm Mauser-Vergueiro. Because southern Africa’s Union Defence Forces badly needed weapons during World War I the British bought 20,000 Model 1904 6.5 mm Mauser-Vergueiro rifles plus 12 million 6.5mm cartridges from Portugal. Portugal, while not of a mind to get itself involved in World War I, was certainly prepared to profit from it by selling these lackluster rifles to Great Britain. The British issued these Mausers to the First, Second, Third, and Fifth Mounted Brigades. They saw extensive service in the German South West Africa campaign. Hence both combatants were issued Mausers. The 6.5 mm Mauser-Vergueiro rifle, unlike the Lee Enfield, required considerable care in the field. It was not “soldier proof” and was withdrawn in 1909.

Boer War Machine Guns

The Boer War saw the widespread use of not only bolt-action magazine fed rifles but also belt-fed machine guns. Multi-barreled machine guns of the type invented by John Gatling in 1862 had become common in the years leading up to the Boer War, but by 1899 these cumbersome weapons had been replaced by single-barrel, belt-fed machine guns such as the Vickers-Maxim and the Colt-Browning Model 1895. As early as 1869 it was known that machine guns could duplicate or even exceed the effects of aimed volley rifle fire. At one test, held in Germany in 1869, a cumbersome Gatling gun showed better results over a minute of continuous firing at paper targets over 800 yards than a company of 100 riflemen firing aimed shots. Machine-guns, therefore, had become highly effective tools of war, and by 1899 their use had become common by most major world powers. Machine guns also multiplied the amount of firepower that a small force could bring to bear and excelled at sweeping open ground and laying down suppressive or harassing fire over trench lines. Their use in the Anglo-Boer War was to be both offensive and defensive.

Widely fielded by the Boers, the 8mm Schwarzlose MG M07/12 was invented by Andreas Wilhelm Schwarzlose of Charlottenberg Germany in 1902 and first produced by Steyr in Austria three years later. The Austro-Hungarian Empire used these guns in several models. In addition to being used in Austria it was used in 6.5 mm caliber in Sweden as the Model 14, in the Netherlands as the Models 08, 08/13, 08/15. Czechoslovakia used it in 7.92 mm and the Italians would later make great use of it, having large stocks they confiscated from the defeated Austrians after World War I. Another crew served weapon on display is a 37mm Maxim-Nordenfeldt MG (1885).

The museum has a very nice Maxim MK I (brass) used by the British Army, a Model 1895 Maxim [British] in .303, and a tripod mount MK IV designed for the Maxim. The Maxim was first used in Matabeleland (present day Zimbabwe) in 1893.

There is also a .303 Vickers/Maxim 1901 that was the forerunner of the famous Vickers machine gun of World Wars I and II. It weighs about sixty pounds (without water) compared to the thirty-four pound Vickers. Later modifications were minor, mostly to reduce the great weight. The bronze water jacket was replaced with a pressed steel jacket . This gun played a prominent part in the ‘civilizing’ of the British colonial empire. A famous bit of doggerel was “What ever happens/we have got/The Maxim gun/and they have not!” The Maxim was used on India’s northwest frontier during the Chitral Expedition of 1895, during the Sudan Campaign (1896), against the Matabele (1897), and again during the Boer War (1889 – 1902). It didn’t perform as well against the Boers (who used cover and concealment and employed open formations).

World War I

Visitors to the National Museum of Military History can learn about the causes, the various threats and campaigns and the results and consequences of World War I. An imaginative, life size reconstruction of a section of a typical trench and a description of life in the trenches is also included. On display here is a Lewis gun. The Lewis gun was the first successful light machine gun to be adopted and used in significant numbers. It was the standard South African light machine gun until 1940 when it was superseded by the Bren. The Lewis used either 47 round or 96 round detachable drum magazines and fired 550 rounds a minute. It was also used extensively in the aircraft role and at least one of the WWI aircraft in the museum mounts a Lewis gun. A Lewis gun aka “the Belgian Rattlesnake” was the LMG that, according to some accounts, Australian machinegunner Cedric Popkin used to shoot down the Red Baron. Gas-operated and air-cooled the Lewis gun is fed by a rotating drum containing either 47 or 97 rounds. The Lewis gun was initially designed by Samuel MacLean and was then developed and perfected by Isaac Newton Lewis of the US army. Unable to interest the US army in the weapon, Lewis took the gun to Belgium and set up a manufacturing company there in 1913. In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, most of the staff fled to England where they were able to continue manufacturing the gun in the Birmingham Small Arms Company factory. The gun was subsequently used by the British, Belgian and Italian armies in great numbers, both as a ground weapon and as an aircraft gun. Though generally replaced by more modern weapons in the 1930’s, the Lewis gun was still in action during World War II. I have long been an admirer of the Lewis gun, but not until recently did I learn that the cooling jacket which makes it so readily recognizable is absolutely worthless, does nothing to cool the weapon, and merely adds 4 pounds of weight to this infantry weapon. Lewis, to prove his own “genius,” added the cooling jacket to the design he stole from MacLean.

World War II

Beginning in the late 19th century and ending 65 years later there are displays of seven Lee-Metford and ‘SMLE’ rifles that make for a nice comparison of the different variations and innovations, a good display of seven Mausers and Mannlichers (1886-1943) with bayonets, and another of seven Mausers (1871-1896). All these weapons figured greatly in South African history. There are four different anti-tank rifles covering the 1914-1945 period in the same display. This is the first I’ve seen the Mauser 13mm, the Maroszek 35 7.92mm, the PZB 38/39 7.92mm, and the Boys MK I .55 inch all together. A really fine comparision. There’s a pristine example second version of the FG-42 7.92mm — a weapon I’m always fond of examining.

For machineguns there are of course a Vickers .303 and for the Germans an MG42 and an MG 34, a tripod mounted “Lafette 34” with pads on front leg to reduce pressure on the carrier’s back. You can compare them to the horribly designed Italian 8mm Fiat- Revelli (mitragliatrice sistema revelli) that was prone to frequent stoppages (especially in north Africa) as the cartridges were oiled via a fluted chamber. The 8mm Breda Model 37 heavy machinegun however, also used oiled cartridges lubricated by an oil pump and its spent cartridges were re-inserted into a 20-round strip to allow recovery of empty cases. Unlike other Italian machine guns the Breda 37 was very reliable — large numbers were captured and used by the Allies and the German Army in Western Desert and Italian campaigns.

There is a comparative display of submachine guns and assault rifles (1940s-1950s) with magazines and cartridges that includes an MP-40, a STEN, an AUSTEN, an Owen, an M-3 “Grease Gun,” an MP-44, an AK-47, and an FN-FAL. The STEN, AUSTEN, and Owen, hang over top of each other in descending order so the 9mm sub guns with a common design heritage can be compared.

Other weapons from the era include US .30 M-1 Carbine, M-1Garand, M91/30 Russian (made in US), Russian Tokarev 40 7.62 mm rifle, and basically any WW2-European theatre military weapon I haven’t mentioned.

The Modern Era and “Integration”

Three South African small arms representing the adoption of foreign weapon designs over the last forty years include the R-1 7.62mm rifle, which is the South African version of the FN-FAL that entered South African service in the early 1960s; the.M-79 40mm grenade launcher (known in South Africa as a snotneus) which was adopted by the SADF in the early 1980s, and the UZI 9mm submachine gun (the Israelis weren’t squeamish about violating the arms embargo against South Africa.) Of course the most well known is the R-4 rifle, the South African produced copy of the Israeli Galil assault rifle. The standard general purpose machine gun in use by the SADF was the FN-MAG (mitrailleur a’ Gaz). The FN MAG combines the gas piston bolt mechanism of the BAR with the feed mechanism of the MG-42. There is a mannequin dressed as a member of the elite 32 Battalion – the SADF special operations unit formed from Angolans and other Africans. Clad in foreign camouflage he carries a captured AK-47.

One exhibit is marked “Umkhonto we-Sizwe (MK)” and a comment in the museum literature notes “Find out how and why the armed wing of the African National Congress came into being.” The ANC/MK were the indigenous insurgents during a long war of terrorism and guerrilla warfare against the SADF. We won’t get into details or personal opinions in this article, but for those interested in the history of the MK until its integration into the South African National Defence Force in 1994, there are some key exhibits: various weapons, landmines and hand grenades, insignia and medals, and the uniform worn by Joe Modise, the former Commander-in-Chief of Umkhonto We Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”) aka MK who became South Africa’s Minister of Defence in 1994.

Museum hours are 9:00am – 4:30pm every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Admission fees are R5 per adult, R3 per pensioner, R2 per scholar. Meetings of the Military History Society are held at the Museum. The Military History Journal is produced in collaboration with the S.A. National Museum of Military History. The Museum complex also houses an Information Center. The Information Center holds the reference library archives (books, diaries, maps, periodicals, and oral histories, etc.) and the photo archives (stereographs, photos, films, and videos). The Information Center is open to the public and visiting scholars from 9am to 1pm and from 1:30pm to 4:30pm, Mondays to Fridays, except on public holidays.

SANMMH Contact Information:

Information Center,
The South African National Museum of Military History,
P.O. Box 52090,
Saxonwold 2132,
Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa
TEL: +27 (011) 646 5513 EXTS. 206,207,208,221
FAX: +27 (011) 646 5256
EMAIL: milmus@icon.co.za

Anyone interested in making a parachute jump with SANDF paratroopers (or other foreign militaries) should contact Rob via Military Parachuting Tours, Int. POB 1573, Olean, NY 14760; email: para6@hotmail.com

The overall length of the RPD is 41 inches and it weighs 15.43 pounds (7 kilograms). Its rate of fire is 700 rounds per minute. The RPD, like most LMGs of its era, is capable of only full automatic fire although skilled operators will be able to touch off three-round bursts and even single shots. The M1943 cartridge when fired from the RPD generates a muzzle velocity of 2,410 feet per second. It’s an easy enough weapon to operate and maintain though it necessitates a special wrench for proper adjustment of the gas cylinder. I’ve had the opportunity to fire the RPD in combat in Africa and have fired another on a range in Afghanistan. I’ve also been on the receiving end of RPD fire – and can’t say I liked it much. While manuals might give the RPD’s maximum effective range at 800 meters, I feel it’s closer to 600 meters unless firing tracer ammunition with the aid of a good assistant gunner as my observer. You really can’t expect much more given the trajectory and relatively low velocity of the 7.62x39mm “intermediate” cartridge. Because of this and its 16 pound weight it straddles the fence between squad automatic weapon and light machine gun.

There are five distinct models of the RPD fielded in its lengthy service life. The first model had a cup type piston, no dust-cover, a right-hand windage knob and a straight reciprocating operating handle (which oscillated somewhat irritatingly back and forth during firing). The second model replaced the cup type piston with a plunger type gas piston and the right hand windage knob became a left-hand windage knob. The lack of a dust-cover and the straight reciprocating handle remained. There were variations to the second model RPD: some had a sliding dust-cover and others had a bracket attached (by rivets) to accommodate a non-reciprocating operating handle. The operating handle may either fold forward or up. The third model, which was also copied and produced in large quantities by the People’s Republic of China as the Type 56, was an improvement with dust-covers on the feed mechanism and a folding, non-reciprocating operating handle. The new cocking handle which remained still during firing was especially appreciated by those machine gunners who were disconcerted by a charging handle rattling in from of them during firing. The fourth model of the RPD is known as the RPDM with the “M” standing for modernniy (modern). The design was significantly improved with a longer gas cylinder, a buffer assembly in the buttstock, and an additional roller on the piston slide. These were all in response to increasing complaints of controllability due to the relatively light weight of the weapon and reports of problems with the belt feeding. But no great changes were made; certainly nothing to deserve the change in nomenclature. The fifth and final modification of the RPD (manufactured in the PRC as the Type 56-1) was very minor adding a folding magazine bracket / dust-cover and a sectional cleaning rod which is carried in the buttstock.

The RPD’s front sight post is a standard front post arrangement with a protective shroud. Elevation and windage sighting adjustments are made by moving the front sight. The wrenches in the RPD buttstock tool kit are required for sight adjustments. Once the weapon is zeroed (which can be a painstakingly laborious process) further elevation adjustments during operation or while firing are made using the rear tangent sight mounted on the receiver cover. The rear tangent sight is a protected open U notch. The rear sight is a sliding ramp graduated in 100 meter increments from 100 meters to 1,000 meters.

Regarding the design ergonomics, Degtyarev’s human engineering was superior for the time. The weapon is handy and well-balanced. The top and bottom wood handguard make it comfortable to fire from the hip assault position, but not without possibly burning the hand. The handguards are un-insulated and supposedly will catch fire if the weapon is fired continuously at the cyclic rate. I have seen an RPD gunner wrap a rag around the handguard so he could fire rapid bursts from the hip with sling support while in the assault. Firing offhand with the heavy drum magazine is difficult, but braced against the hip, and with the aid of the sling, it’s not a problem. The buttstock is heavy and provides a good buffer in firing. Its peculiar squared-off shape is readily recognizable and is based on the clubbed buttstock on the DP light machine gun. The buttstock configuration is ideally suited to the European machinegun firing technique of cupping the non-firing hand under the bottom of the buttstock for support. The pistol grip is, to my hand, set at a bit too acute an angle. But perhaps that’s due to the American method of firing an LMG in the prone or my experience with the M60. Maybe the Russians angle their arms differently when firing.

The feed mechanism must lift and feed the belt from beneath the gun. Reportedly this strains the feed pawl mechanism and under field combat conditions would frequently cause problems with the gun’s functioning. But, I believe this is a fallacy. Having fired the RPD and observed others firing one in adverse combat conditions it feeds well, especially on the first two gas regulator settings. Though it’s quite possible that poor operator maintenance, dirty belts, and a worn feed pawl could cause feed problems that would then be blamed on the RPD’s inherent design features. I don’t believe the Soviets would have continued to produce the RPD in its basic design envelope without making significant design modifications to the feed mechanism if there were genuine problems.

The modifications to the RPD did not incorporate the changeable barrel as used on the DP. The barrels were threaded to the receiver and pinned into place. Lack of a quick-change barrel makes gunners limit their cyclic rate firing and long burst firing. Soviet gunners were taught not to fire a belt (100 rounds) in less than a minute. The chrome-lined 20.5 inch RPD barrels have four-grooves with a 1 in 10 twist. If a gunner burns out a barrel the weapon has to be sent to the rear for re-fitting by a competent armorer.

RPD Drum Magazine

The RPD feeds a 100 round belt from a cylindrical drum attached beneath the weapon (positioned well at the gun’s center of gravity). The RPD loads two fifty-round metal non-disintegrating belts (of 7.62x39mm ammo) which are snapped together before loading into the RPD’s metal drum magazine. The starter belts (50 rounds) have a loading tab which will feed the belt without requiring the operator to open the top-cover. There are 50-round end belts and 25-round middle belts which can be linked together. The links are connected by a small steel spring. There were two distinct types of links. The first was patterned after the German MG-34 and MG-42 metal link design (the Russians didn’t mind copying an enemy’s design). The second type of link introduced has a nub which fits against the cartridge base whereas the first version used a tab which engaged the extractor groove above the cartridge case rim. Most RPD machinegunners will tell you that the second type of link is harder to load.

Belts are joined by matching up links and inserting a loose cartridge. The bottom hooking section of the link snaps into place in the cartridge extractor groove. Two belts are linked together by slipping the tongue of the end link on one belt into the slot of the starting link on the other belt. Putting a cartridge through the link locks the two belts together. Loading the drum with a 100-round belt takes practice and fortunately there is a loading machine which makes it much easier. The ammunition belts sit loosely enough in the drum that a loaded drum will rattle when the weapon is being carried. The drum is attached to the weapon by sliding the top dovetail onto the corresponding connection below the receiver. On the later models of the RPK the drum attaches to the ejection port dust cover which can be snapped down and locked into place as a mounting bracket. The belt’s loading tab protrudes from a spring-loaded trap door on the drum magazine. In Vietnam U.S. Navy SEALs occasionally adapted captured North Vietnamese RPD drum magazines for use with their 5.56mm Stoner light machineguns. The RPD drum magazine is an all together better arrangement than the cardboard box and cotton bandoleer method of ammunition supply used with the contemporaneous M-60 machinegun.

Mechanical Functioning / Operation

The RPD fires from an open bolt: a good feature for a light machine gun as it precludes cookoffs. The RPD’s locking system is very similar to the modified Kjellman Frijberg locking system used by Degtyarev’s DP-DPM series of light machine gun. The gas-operated RPD functions as such: When the weapon’s trigger is pulled the compressed recoil spring is unlocked. The slide assembly then moves forward powered by the expanding recoil spring. The slide assembly (piston and bolt group) rides in milled slots on the RPD’s receiver. A round is stripped from the belt and loaded in the chamber. The bolt stops forward with the extractor over the round. The bolt is then locked when the slide continues its forward travel and engages two locking lugs and the rear of the bolt strikes the firing pin. During firing some of the expanding gases are forced through the gas port, driving the gas piston and slide assembly to the rear. Bolt unlocking is delayed and the locking lugs pressed against the bolt. As the slide assembly is driven rearward the ejector draws the cartridge out of the chamber. The ejection port is in the bottom of the receiver.

The slide assembly utilizes an actuating cam roller like that found on the M60. But unlike the M60’s top-mounted cam, it is on the left side of the slide and slots into a spring loaded spring rail on the bottom-side of the receiver top-cover. As the feed rail is moved right by the actuating cam roller it moves the feed pawl to the left. As the bolt goes forward chambering a round, the actuator roller moves down along the straight section of the feed rail. When the cartridge is stripped from the belt by the bolt the actuating cam pushes the feed rail to the right. The feed slide and pawl are moved left out of the feed-tray cover. The spring-loaded stop on the feed tray keeps the belt from being pulled left as the feed pawl moves to the next cartridge in the belt. As the weapon recoils the belt and the next cartridge are engaged and pulled right.

Loading and Firing

To load: 1) load and attach a loaded drum magazine; 2) insure the belt loading tab protrudes from the drum’s trap door; 3) pull down the drum lock on the underside of the receiver; 4) pull the operating handle to the rear, cocking the weapon; {note: on the older RPKs the non-folding operating handle will remain rearward while the folding handle on the newer guns should be pushed forward after cocking}; 5) push forward on the feed-tray cover latch and open the top-cover; 6) place the belt on top of the feed-tray with the first round against the cartridge stop; 7) close the cover. The RPK is now loaded and ready to fire. The safety catch on the right side of the pistol-grip / trigger group may be applied. Forward the trigger is “safe.” Snap the safety catch to the rear to fire. To unload the gun; push forward on the feed-tray cover catch and lift the cover. Remove the belt and close the cover.

Disassembly

To disassemble the RPD: 1) Remove the belt and clear the weapon; 2) pulling the trigger let the slide go forward while under control; 3) push the spring-loaded top cover locking latch forward and lift the receiver cover; 4) to remove the cover, drift the pivot pin out to the right; 5) turning the butt trap cover over at a right angle to the butt 6) with a screwdriver turn the recoil spring and buffer plug assembly on-quarter turn (either left or right); 7) remove the buffer assembly, recoil spring, and guide rod; 8) push the buttstock retaining pin and remove the pistol grip, trigger assembly, and buttstock; 9) pull the operating handle to the rear to remove; 10) remove the slide assembly; 11) remove bolt and locking lugs from the slide assembly.

The 3-Position Gas Regulator

Like the Bren Gun and the BAR, on the RPD the weapon’s gas cylinder is adjustable. The RPD gas block and cylinder are permanently pinned to the barrel. The gas block incorporates a three-position variable gas regulator. The gas regulator settings are each lined up on an index pin and are marked “1”, “2” and “3”, respectively. The first position is referenced in the Soviet Army RPD operating manual as “standard use” however field operation seems best accommodated by position setting #2. Adjustment of the gas regulator is carried out by loosening and removing the regulator’s retaining nut (found on the left side) with the combination take-down tool located in the buttstock maintenance kit. The regulator must be pressed down to the right to disengage it from the index pin. This task has been found to be difficult under the best of conditions and all but impossible in the field when the gas regulator is dirty and the weapon is hot from firing. Add to that quotient the stress and confusion of combat (or worse, nighttime and / or winter conditions) and you’ve got a real problem. That’s if you can even find the combination tool.

Replacement

The RPK (rushnoi pulemet kalashnikova) a heavy barreled bipod equipped AKM replaced the RPD as the Soviet squad automatic weapon. Not the best idea and something I’ve never agreed with as the RPK, while streamlining ammunition and parts logistics at the small unit level and simplifying weapons training, is less than auspicious as a squad or platoon level weapon. It lacks a quick change barrel and can not be used for sustained automatic fire. It must also be fired using pre-loaded 75-round drums or 40-round “banana” box magazines. The 40-round magazine is difficult to use in the prone.

The RPD, although considered obsolete in the Warsaw Pact nations, is still occasionally see in combat in the internecine squabbles of the breakaway republics of the former USSR. Examples exist in the special operations armories of many nations. The RPD also found favor with military units outside the communist bloc including the U.S. Navy SEALs in Vietnam and the Rhodesian Selous Scouts. Numbers of captured weapons were pressed into service both by the Rhodesians and by the South African special forces. Captured UAR (Egyptian) weapons evaluated (and pressed into use) by the Israeli Defense Force performed well and some of the weapons were used later by their southern Lebanese falange allies. RPDs can still be found in use by several armies (especially in Africa) and numerous Guerrilla factions around the world where it continues to serve in an active frontline role.

By Rob Krott

One particularly deep pothole lifted me several inches off the seat as the Toyota Landcruiser bounced up the road. My head snapped up, waking me from a doze only to see the barrel of a Kalashnikov assault rifle wavering about six inches below my chin. The Afridi tribesman, a pimply faced youth, sitting next to me and clutching the rifle seemed unconcerned. I looked at the selector lever and noticed the weapon was loaded and on “automatic.” In the crowded car every bump had the potential to send bullets flying. I smiled at the youth (who nodded happily at me) and then I gently moved the barrel away from my face and reached down to place the weapon on “safe.” My friend, Muhammad Sultan, an Afghan refugee and de-mining expert, sitting on the other side of our gunman noticed my actions. Sultan said, “Not to worry, Rob! The soldiers must account for every bullet that is fired.” Our driver bobbed his head and intoned, “Inshallah!” Ah, yes, “Inshallah.” Welcome to the Khyber Pass.

The Khyber Pass is the territory of the Afridi, the Pathan tribe that has controlled the Khyber for centuries. It is a region lost in time with adobe-mud fortresses dominating the landscape, women in colorful burqqas, and mustachioed rifle-toting brigands wearing turbans. I couldn’t wait to see it.

It has been called the oldest continuously lawless place on earth. The nearly autonomous tribal enclave here was first “administered” by the British who found it impossible to subdue the warlike Pathans, said to be the world’s largest autonomous tribal group, and established the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in 1901. Pakistani national and provincial laws hold little sway here: tribal lands are actually ruled by the Pathans through their council of tribal elders, the jirga. Pukhtunwali – an unwritten code of revenge and blood feuds against enemies, refuge for friends and kinsmen, and hospitality for strangers (badal, nanwatai, and malmastia) — is the law. The Pathans run guns, smuggle consumer goods, and increasingly, opium. Large tracts of opium are cultivated here and hashish and, more recently, heroin are major commodities. The Shinwari tribe operated heroin labs in hidden caves in the mountains near the Khyber Pass until government pressure made them move west into Afghanistan. During the war against the Soviets the mujahideen smuggled opium to swap for guns and in doing so invigorated the opium production in Pakistan.

Hard lands make for hard men and barren mountains and bleak winters have made the Pathans a hardy breed. Fiercely independent, the Pathans consider guns necessary accouterments and maintain large private arsenals to defend their family compounds during frequent clan disputes and from attack by dacoits – bandits. With shootouts; armed robberies; bombings; kidnapping; fights over livestock, slights to their womenfolk, personal insults, and generations-long blood feuds; and just good old fashioned violence, the tribal lands resemble the American wild west. Everyone carries a firearm. Consequently, people are polite. Justice is swift and bloody.

Pathans, also called Pukhtuns, have over the past two decades attempted to create an independent country, Pukhtunistan, encompassing the tribal lands, which straddle the border and the approximately 12 million Pathans (60% of the tribal population) living in Afghanistan. With fair skin, high foreheads, straight noses, and light hazel eyes, the Pathans look European. There’s the theory that this is because Alexander’s legions swam in the local gene pool c. 336 B.C. while others believe that some of the Aryans stopped here enroute from Europe when they invaded the Indus c. 1600-1500 B.C. Pathan tradition holds that they are descended from King Afghana, grandson of King Saul of Israel. Whatever the source of their genes, they certainly don’t look at all like Punjabis or Sindhis. What they do look like is “tough.”

The day I arrived in Pakistan I checked into the Pearl Continental Hotel. A sign in the lobby said, “Weapons cannot be brought inside the hotel premises. Personal Guards or Gunmen are required to deposit their weapons with the Hotel Security.” Next stop was the Pakistani Khyber Political Agent’s office for my Khyber Pass travel permit. I was directed to a cramped office, piled high with dusty ledgers, which appeared unchanged since the 19th century British colonial administration. Even the electric fan was pre-World War II. Three clerks sat around desks piled high with papers while shelves and bureau tops along the dirty, whitewashed walls held precariously balanced ceiling high stacks of old cloth-bound ledgers and loose-leaf files shedding papers. The ever-present battered teapot and glasses crowded a small table. I was half expecting some one to blow a great cloud of dust off one of the ledgers and say “Mr. Robert! Yes, you still owe mess dues from 1919 … or was that your grandfather?”

The major route connecting Peshawar with Kabul is traversed via a tough, twisting drive up the Khyber Pass past Landi Kotal to the border post at Torkham. This area is considered dangerous and I had to pay a nominal fee for my travel permit and for my Khyber Rifles escort. After receiving my pass I waited around a few minutes for my Afridi gunman, a member of the Khyber levies, dressed in a black beret and a gray kurta and shalwar kameez (a knee-length cotton shirt over pajama trousers). A short, pimply-faced kid clutching a Kalashnikov, he made a pitiful looking bodyguard.

The drive through noisy, bustling and completely third-world Peshawar to the Khyber Agency is itself an interesting journey. Dominating the skyline lurid billboards of burly matinee idols angrily spewing hot lead from automatic weapons advertise ultra-violent Pakistani and Indian movies. Similar Rambo-esque paintings adorn buses and the three-wheeled Vespa taxis which always seem to be on the verge of imminent collision. We passed the gun shops of Peshawar: small one room shops holding a few dozen weapons and adorned with names such as Frontier Arms, Haji Farhad & Bros. Arms and Ammunition Dealers, or Bashir Ahmad Co. The weapons for sale are sometimes comically counterfeited, including a copy of a Russian submachine gun stamped Special Rolex. Next we drove past Karkhanai, the new smugglers’ bazaar where there are no longer drugs or guns for sale (that was all stopped a few years ago) and drove through the police checkpoint noted for its “Attention Entry Of Foreigners Is Prohibited Beyond This Point” sign. I was no longer under official Pakistani government control. This was Afridi tribal territory, the Pathan tribe that has controlled trade and travel through the Khyber for centuries. Here, just beyond the checkpoint you can buy guns and hashish. I stopped at some gun shops only to be rushed off by the police.

The world beyond the checkpoint is like something out of The Road Warrior. The adobe mud fortresses — guard towers and walls stand 20 feet high with embrasures at the corners so sharpshooters can engage interlopers — dot the landscape. There are no windows, just gun ports and loopholes, and the only entrance is a 20-to-30-foot-high steel gate. Everyone is armed. The whole area is built for tribal warfare. As we drove by I caught forbidden glimpses inside the compounds of beautiful gardens and landscaped courtyards.

The army checked my travel permit at Jamrud Fort. Built by Sikhs in 1923 it is only eleven miles and two centuries from Peshawar. The formal entrance of the pass is the stone arch built in 1964 by military decree as a kind of tourist attraction. My ride was a red Ford minivan (a bargain at less than $20 a day). While stopped at the Khyber Pass archway people began scurrying for cover as bullets flew just up the road. A little inter-clan flare up or blood feud was in full swing. The police ran over to tell us to stay where we were. My Khyber Rifles escort began to look worried. The red minivan, which looked so sharp before now, made a very good target. After about half an hour we were waved on up the pass. The east end of the pass road winds through a wide, flat plain marked by low hills on both sides. Throughout the valley were rows of WWII “dragons teeth” concrete tank obstacles. The road then climbs up through the Suleiman Hills rising up on both sides of the pass to Shagai Fort.

Coming down the mountain were several bicycle riders with one or two other bicycles in trail. They were smuggling them over the mountains from China via Kabul. A tough way to make a living. As camel caravans moved across the mountaintops, Afridi women in their brightly colored burqqas walked languorously along the pass road. Carting bundles of freshly cut grass for their livestock they form small knots of blue, orange, red, and gold against the Khyber’s blue-green mountains standing silent beneath a bright blue sky dotted with powder puff clouds. In the foreground of this picturesque scene was the crumbling adobe of the mud walled forts. Hugging the cliff walls and occasionally crossing the roadway is the Kabar railway. Built by the British in the 1920s it is forty-two kilometers long with 34 tunnels and 92 bridges. Some of the trestles looked shaky and in places the track hung precariously off the mountainside. There were spots where there was nothing underneath the tracks but mountain air.

The narrow point of the Khyber Pass is at Ali Masjid. Above the Ali Masjid mosque sits the Ali Masjid fort which overlooks the entire Khyber Pass. Here the road is one way as it’s only thirty meters or so wide. Before it was widened two camels could not walk abreast. To fully appreciate the Khyber Pass you must imagine trying to escape through the pass on foot while being shot at by Pathan snipers. Testifying to the near impossibility of such a feat, is a British cemetery full of graves from the Second Afghan War of 1879. The Khyber Pass walls bear the insignia of many British regiments, such as the Royal Sussex, the Gordon Highlanders, and the South Wales Borderers, to name but a few. Mute testimony to the far-flung reaches of a vanished empire, they reminded me of the arrogance of Daniel Dravot and Peachey Carnehan in Kipling’s The Man Who Would be King. Ten kilometers further is the Buddhist stupa from Kushen times. Another seven kilometers along the road at 1,200 meters in elevation and sitting at the end of the railway and just eight kilometers from Afghanistan is Landi Kotal.

Formerly “contraband city” full of hash and guns for sale and the plush homes of rich smugglers hidden behind compound walls, the smuggler’s trade has now moved to the Karkhanai Bazaar near Peshawar. But I’ve been warned: kidnapping for ransom is a frequent event and the locals certainly aren’t too timid to avoid mugging a westerner. Landi Kotal is a notorious den of thieves, smugglers, bandits, and kidnappers. In other words, a nice place to have lunch.

With the smells of sizzling meats on charcoal braziers enticing us we stopped to lounge on charpoy (bedsteads of woven straw and nylon cord) on a balcony above the main street of Landi Kotal. I stuffed myself with chabli kebab (hamburger), tikka – spiced grilled meats, nan, the circular flat roti of the country, slapped from dough in the palms and cooked in the tandoor, all washed down with glasses of chal sabaz (green tea). When it comes to my stomach I’m fluent in Pashto.

I wondered through a bazaar and a group of four or five young women passed me. With their colorful flowing burqqas and their clanking jewelry, their expressive almond-shaped eyes — the amber, hazel, and light gray of Alexander’s legions edged with kohl — flashed promises at me. It was all so amazingly enticing and seductive. I was strangely titillated by their unspoken lust communicated by a single glance.

After Landi Kotal the road forks: left to the Afghan border and right to Khyber Rifles headquarters. Bearing left it didn’t take long before we crested the last hill at Michni checkpoint to see the border post at Torkham. Beyond that lies Afghanistan. Unless you have a special pass and an Afghan visa this is the last stop — fifty-eight kilometers from Peshawar.

It was turn-around time and the trip back was as breathtaking and adventurous as the trip to Michni. I spent a few days in Peshawar and Nooristan and then made my second trip into the Khyber and journeyed on to Afghanistan. We passed through Landi Kotal and the Michni checkpoint again before descending the last few kilometers to the border post of Torkham. The whole scene was a Kodak moment but photography is prohibited. The Khyber Rifles soldiers clad in the traditional pajama-like shalwar kameez and commando sweaters stood at the ready with their assault rifles. They passed us through to Afghanistan with a nod to be greeted by Kalashnikov toting Taliban. After we crossed the border a brief shootout commenced between the Khyber Rifles and the Taliban as someone ran the border and the Khyber Rifles opened up. A vehicle which came through only a few minutes behind us took a bullet in its left side rear door.

After a week in Afghanistan it was time to go back to Peshawar. Just as well. I was sick and no amount of Lomotil or Cipro seemed to help. As we approach the border post the scene was right out of the middle ages and the Black Death. Everyone was filthy and dressed in rags and blankets. The dirt road was ankle deep in fecal muck. People aged long before their time by hard labor, squalor, filth, disease plod through the mud while small boys, dirt-faced, snot-nosed carbuncled urchins trotted along with loads of scrap metal on their backs like under-fed pack animals. Scrawny horses pulled wagons, their wooden wheels clacking and slurping in the mud. I solemnly intoned “Bring out your dead!” a line from Monty Python and The Holy Grail — what I was seeing is so reminiscent of that movie scene that the other American with me chuckled. Crossing the border I turned my watch back a half an hour. Afghanistan is half an hour ahead of Pakistani time and five centuries behind the rest of the world. Indeed the Afghans claim it is year 1376 as calculated from the moon phases.

I stopped at Afghan Emigration — a mud hut with a rickety table and two bored Taliban with moldy blankets over their shoulders. I got my passport stamped and was through the border. Next was Pakistani Immigration and then customs. There’s no problem with my visa even though it quite plainly states “single entry.” On the way out the frantic, chaotic coming and going of people was unbelievable. Walking out of customs I was almost run down by five or six boys with loads perched on their backs dodging like half-backs as they tried to avoid a Pakistani Khyber Rifle trooper flailing away with his swagger stick. He wasn’t trying to stop them or arrest them, just giving them a beating. “Oh my what fun, yes, very good!”

The drive back to Peshawar was uneventful except for that slight problem with the ever-present Kalashnikov barrel under my chin. Amongst the Afridi a common family occupation is smuggling and at the various Khyber Rifles check points I looked up on the hillside to see smugglers walking the parallel mountain trails in plain view. On the way back just before the last police post we saw the smugglers, all gathered to begin their run over the mountains at 3:30pm (the police go off at 4pm) humping stereos, dishware sets, and car parts over the mountains and into the market. Dodging the battered trucks and buses belching noxious plumes of blue gray smoke and loaded down on their springs with human cargo and careening up and down the narrow macadam highway we soon arrived back in Peshawar. I checked in to Green’s Hotel. It’s at the bottom of the list for western-style accommodations — the decrepit rooms had moldy walls and peeling paint while the restaurant’s table cloth were stained with the detritus of a decade of meals. It was probably a very nice hotel at one time but today it’s just another remnant of the fading splendor of the Raj era. But after the Khyber Pass it certainly looked like the 20th Century.

Rob Krott made four separate trips into the Khyber Pass and crossed the Pakistani border three times on a single entry visa. Rob, a professional war correspondent since 1992, currently travels for the TV show The World’s Most Dangerous Places which can be seen on the Travel Channel.