ISIL uses Qatar-linked arms: Evidence hint

Evidence suggests that weaponry, supplied by Qatar to insurgents in Syria, have ended up in the hands of ISIL Takfiri militants.

Image grabs from video footage have surfaced, showing a militant with a Chinese FN-6 man-portable air-defense system and what appears to be an Mi-17 Iraqi helicopter.

The Iraqi Ministry of Defense has confirmed that an Mi-35m was shot down near Baiji in the Salah-al-Din province on October 3.

The Qatar government supplied two shipments of Chinese-made FN-6 to militants in Syria.

The Persian Gulf monarchy has also been accused of sponsoring the ISIL terrorist group.

A 2013 New York Times article wrote, “At least several dozens (and perhaps many more) portable anti-aircraft missiles are known to have found their way to rebel possession….”

It added, “This includes batches provided through Qatar’s shadowy arms-trafficking network….”

The ISIL militants made swift advances in much of northern and western Iraq over the summer, after capturing large swathes of territory in neighboring Syria.

Earlier in the year, former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said militants belonging to the ISIL will turn against their Saudi Arabian and Qatari supporters, who call them “revolutionaries.” Maliki said that the situation in Iraq is due to a conspiracy by certain political factions.

“You hear the Saudi, Qatari and some other Arab media calling them (ISIL militants) revolutionaries and that the Iraqi army is a sectarian force, but they’ve forgotten that they are living in countries brimming with sectarianism and marginalization of minorities,” al-Maliki said, adding, “We tell them and all our friends and Arab brothers to be sure that terrorism will never be limited to the Iraqi borders.”