MESOP News Roundup: Wednesday, June 11 : ISIS moves Mosul weapons from Iraq to Syria
One of the results of the Islamic State in Iraq and a-Sham’s surprise takeover Tuesday of Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, may be a plan to bolster forces in Syria with supplies gained from Iraq.
It is “worth noting that ISIS has captured parts of the Mosul airport,” said Brookings Doha weapons expert Charles Lister on Tuesday, “where Iraq forces maintain a fleet of UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.”Photographs allegedly show US-supplied Humvees taken from the Iraqi army arriving in the northeast Syrian province of Hasakah, where ISIS has a strong presence.
Meanwhile, ISIS reportedly looted 500 billion Iraqi dinars [$425 million] from Mosul banks, according to local independent Iraqi news agency Iraq News Outlook. Local Iraqi Kurdish news cited the same figure, reported The Financial Times.
With their recent gains, ISIS now controls land stretching from Nineveh and Anbar provinces in Iraq across the Syrian provinces of Deir e-Zor, a-Hasakah and a-Raqqa to eastern Aleppo.