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Military audit confirms US tanks ended up with Iran-backed militias

The US effort to assess Iraq’s military capabilities is plagued by weak oversight, an inspector general report found.
U.S. Marine M1 Abrams tanks from the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Marine Division take up defensive positions during a firefight near the main traffic checkpoint in Falluja June 24, 2004. A U.S. Marine Cobra helicopter gunship was shot down during the battle but the two pilots escaped uninjured. At least 15 insurgents were killed and three Marines injured in the fighting, a military spokesman said. REUTERS/Bob Strong  RCS/acm - RP5DRHZSARAA

As many as nine US tanks provided to Iraq’s military for the fight against the Islamic State (IS) have ended up in the hands of Iranian-backed militants, a government audit revealed on Monday.

The latest quarterly inspector general report for the US mission in Iraq and Syria confirms a string of on-the-ground reports that M1 Abrams battle tanks and other lethal equipment provided by the US government have ended up with the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). The news adds credence to recent reporting by Iraq’s Al-Ghad news agency that Abrams manufacturer General Dynamics has suspended maintenance support for 160 of its tanks amid allegations that the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) broke an agreement on their use.

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