Small Is Deadly

Quoting a former ISI chief, military intelligence sources say that Pakistan’s intelligence still has three million Kalashnikov assault rifles in it’s possession. As many as 13,894 such rifles were seized from militant groups in Kashmir. This year till August 1,423 rifles, 132 rockets, 63 machine guns, 1,916 grenades, 442 mines, 18 grenade launchers and 1,015 explosives were recovered. The sources say the supply of small arms to militants is uninterrupted and at the international level there is no accountability for those supplying small arms.

Air Commodore Jasjit Singh of the IDSA notes that the spread of small arms has been identified as the main cause of mass destruction but has not been given serious thought. The inflow of small arms to Pakistan from the US and other sources is a factor that needs to be looked into at international forums, he adds.