weapon

Durra - the world’s largest illegal firearms market

Julien — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:36:07 +0200

Gunfire echoes in the streets of Durra, Pakistan. Test firing a 9mm handgun or a Kalachnikov AK-47 rifle in the village’s main market is an every day sight.

Durra or Darra Adamkhel, a village in the country’s northwestern tribal zone, is renowned for its weapon-making expertise and is the world’s largest illegal market. Gunsmiths in the village manufacture replicas of ammunition and popular guns, which are then sold to arms dealers across Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan.

Durra is part of Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The Pakistani central government does not directly control this region, known for harbouring Islamist insurgents. Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are said to be active in the region. While manufacturing arms within the FATA is legal, supplying them outside the tribal zone is prohibited. Durra’s weapons industry has existed for more than a century but the Soviet- Afghan war in the late seventies helped boost it.

Chinese ship endeavours to get weapons to Zimbabwe

Julien — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:46:16 +0200

The An Yue Jiang in a Japanese port. Photo: http://niraikanai.sakura.ne.jp (We couldn't find a recent amateur photo of the boat).

Refused in South Africa and turned away from Mozambique, 77 tons of weaponry bound for Zimbabwe are now heading towards Angola in hope of access to land. Will the Chinese vessel succeed in reaching its final destination? Unions, lawyers and anti-arms activists hope not.

Shortly after Zimbabwe's doomed elections more than three weeks ago, desperate and unpopular president Robert Mugabe ordered three million rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled and over 3,000 mortar rounds and mortar tubes from China. Last week, the An Yue Jiang arrived on the continent in Durban. But in the face of a 300,000-strong African union and refusal to transfer the goods from the country's high court, the ship fled on Friday. Its plan to offload in Mozambique was also rebutted and the vessel is now gambling on Angola, where it is thought to be headed. While Zambia's president urged everybody in the region to prevent the ship from docking on Monday, reports that it will offload to another vessel in the area have started circulating. Surrounding countries worry that the weapons will fuel escalating police brutality reported in Zimbabwe.

Taser, a non-lethal weapon?

Julien — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:56:50 +0100

Canada's federal police watchdog requested yesterday that authorities "immediately restrict" the use of Taser guns (electronic control devices). The news has refuelled debate over the use of the "non-lethal" weapon, which has been blamed for the death of a Polish immigrant killed in Vancouver airport on 14 October. The incident was filmed by a passenger who put the images online a few weeks later. Robert Dziekanski, the man we see in the video, died a few minutes after being shocked with a Taser. We have commentary from an Amnesty International representative, who condemns the abuse of the North American weapon, and from Tom Smith, co-founder of Taser.
Post your questions on his profile page.