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| Site Additions : August 2007 |
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| 31 August |
Firearms per 100 people |
Civilians own 74% of world's guns
Worldwide civilian ownership of guns is greater than previous estimates suggested, according to the seventh annual Small Arms Survey yearbook. Of the 875 million firearms around the world, 650 million are owned by civilians. This is 200 million more than previously thought, and three times as many as the combined arsenals of the world’s armies and police forces.
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| 24 August |
Iraqi Army national police assist with food distribution, Baghdad (photo: US DoD)
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Armed gangs hinder humanitarian aid in Iraq
Armed violence in Baghdad is making it harder for humanitarian agencies to provide their services, according to a report by IRIN (the UN's Integrated Regional Information Networks). Humanitarian agencies believe Baghdad is now the most dangerous place in Iraq to operate, and many of the people most in need of assistance are out of reach due to armed gangs roaming the streets.
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| 17 August |
A woman seeks shelter from gunfire in Mogadishu (photo: HRW) |
Civilians under siege in Mogadishu
Ethiopian, Somali and insurgent forces are deliberately targetting the civilian population in Mogadishu, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.
The report says that a loose coalition of Somali armed groups, including the Islamic Courts’ Al-Shabaab militia, have been firing indiscriminately in civilian areas. It also documents the targetted killings of civilian officials of the Somalian transitional Federal Government (TFG) and summary executions of captured combatants.
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| 10 August |
US soldiers training Iraqi troops in Mosul in November 2006 (photo: US DoD) |
Iraq: Almost 200,000 US small arms missing
Nearly 200,000 US firearms meant for Iraqi security forces are lost, according to a report from the US Government Accountability Office.
The report says poor bookkeeping by the US Department of Defence (DoD) resulted in around 110,000 AK-47 rifles and 80,000 pistols going missing in Iraq since 2003. A system for recording outgoing weapons was only established in December 2005, and a system to record receipt of weapons was put in place six months later. The DoD also blamed a lack of staff and said the electronic spreadsheets were too large to manage.
IANSA member Rachel Stohl, senior analyst at the Centre for Defence Information, made print, radio and TV appearances throughout the week criticising the DoD for the loss.
"It likely means that the United States is unintentionally providing weapons to bad actors,'' commented Stohl.
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| 3 August |
Spectators watched as weapons were destroyed in Bouake. (photo: UN)
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Côte d’Ivoire: guns burned in peace ceremony
Former rebels in the Côte d'Ivoire surrended their guns for destruction as part of the peace process last week. The weapons were burned in a football stadium on Monday 30 July to symbolise the end of the country’s five year conflict. President Gbagbo travelled to the formerly rebel-held north of the country for the first time since the war started to attend the ceremony.
As he lit the pile of guns, the President declared that the war was over. Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, a former rebel leader, also attended. 'By setting fire to these guns which were the seeds of destruction, we are marking the end of the war,' he said. The ‘flame of peace’ is now being carried to all 19 regions of the Côte d'Ivoire to symbolise the country's reunification.
BBC:Ivory Coast leaders burn weapons
Afrol News:
Leaders burn Côte d'Ivoire weapons
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