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.

Dancing policeman

Julien — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 15:07:48 +0100

For the past 23 years, police officer Tony Lepore has been coming out of retirement to direct traffic on Rhode Island, Massachusetts. The 60-year-old ex-warden spends each Christmas directing drivers with a festive version of the traffic warden's code. This year his moves have caught the attention of internet users. Videos of the dancing policeman can be found on blogs all over the world.

Video posted 13 December 2007.