Iraqi Recruits Begin Receiving U.S. M-16s

Iraqi army soldiers in the School of Infantry practice snapping in, in the standing position, with their AK-47's during a dry fire exercise on Camp Yasser, Al Asad Air Base on March 15

A first batch of Iraqi military recruits has received American M-16 rifles rather than the Soviet-designed AK-47 in common use by both security forces and insurgents, the US military said on May 11.

Each new group of rookie soldiers that goes through a US training program will be issued the rifle, and by the end of the month 1,600 of them will be in use as the Iraqi army battles to regain control of the country...

Iraq itself is awash with Kalashnikovs looted from ousted dictator Saddam Hussein’s defunct armed forces, smuggled from around the region by militants and imported by the United States to arm new security units.

Many go missing from official stocks, but the new generation of U.S.-made weapons will be issued to individual soldiers, whose photographs and biometric data will be recorded next to their guns’ serial numbers to deter fraud.

Read the rest at Defense News

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