Mujahid a-Shami: IS weapons shipments to Iraq ‘increased considerably’ since Palmyra takeover

Following the fall of Palmyra last week, Open Syria reported that the Islamic State seized tanks, transport vehicles, small arms and anti-tank guided missiles from abandoned regime stockpiles.

Here, Mujahid a-Shami, alias of the head of the media collective Deir e-Zor is Being Slaughtered Silently, talks to Noura al-Hourani about the International Coalition’s targeting on Friday of an IS convoy carrying weapons from Palmyra to Iraq.

“The pace of weapons and ammunition shipments to Iraq has increased considerably” since IS took control of Palmyra, says a-Shami.

Q: Where was the column headed and where did it leave from? How did you learn that the trucks were carrying weapons?

“The origin of the trucks was Palmyra, they were headed towards the desert. They were hit in the Haql al-Ward oil field area, which is located near the town of a-Duweir in the eastern Deir e-Zor countryside.

The trucks were carrying ammunition and they were accompanied by cars. The column was headed towards Iraq. IS covered the trucks with grain for the sake of camouflaging their real cargo.”

Q: After IS took control of the a-Tanf crossing (the last regime-controlled border crossing to Iraq), has the pace of weapons shipments towards Iraq increased?

“Since the Syrian regime withdrew from Palmyra and handed over the huge weapons depots to IS, the pace of weapons and ammunition shipments to Iraq has increased considerably.”