Various important documents and literature were recovered as well as multiple small arms. al-Zoubai apparently led Iraqi intelligence to at least one hideout, which contained Baghdadi’s AKS-74U. Iraqi Intelligence also killed various senior IS figures. The capture by the Iraqi authorities was part of intelligence operations that managed to capture Mohammed Ali Sajet al-Zoubai, al-Baghdadi’s brother-in-law and aide, as well as others, including the wife of Baghdadi’s courier. There’s also an active black market in both countries, where it’s very expensive as a status symbol. The previous owner isn’t clear, but one significant possibility is Syria, where the platform is both very popular with both regime and opposition fighters, and has been captured from the regime many times over the course of the conflict there. While the symbolism of the AKS-74U in the hands of Insurgent leaders is well known, and covered by this author in an extensive thread at the time, let’s focus on the physical gun shown, which until very recently has never seen the light outside of the infamous propaganda video.

In a fascinating turn of events, it was recovered by Iraqi security forces in a remote location in al-Qaim, Iraq, close to the Syrian border, in mid-2019. The gun in question is a AKS-74U Carbine made after 1986 in the Tula factory in Russia.

Calibre obscura galil