I thought so at first, but no oversized mag release. Its a Sig, Sig rail too
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With an Aimpoint on a gooseneck... on a detachable carry handle...
I don't know if we will ever know where the ISIS got the Sigs, yes it could be a contractor gun but it could also have been captured from Iraqi military or police forces. Remember most of the middle east militaries are divided into many different and often competing fiefdoms and often each of these will purchase their own weapons. It is not like the U.S. or western European nations which will have a pool of money and standardize on one or maybe two rifles. In the ME, these pools of money might go to a dozen different groups and they will each make their purchases.
Another thought is it could have been a ISIS gun from the Syrian civil war purchased by some of our so called allies in the region (Saudi Arabia, Gulf States, etc..).
It also could have been supplied by the CIA or other American assets to arm supposedly more moderate Syrian groups and either traded, stolen, given, or captured from there by the ISIS.
I don't know why this is so surprising to so many people. Norinco produces all kinds of M-4 and M-16 variants, and a few Gulf states have been conducting large weapons purchases from the Chinese and funneling them to insurgents in Syria. ISIS also has access to a slew of weapons being smuggled out of Iraq by corrupt members of the Iraqi security apparatus, if you can call it that, much of which is composed of weapons that we transferred to the Iraqi army before we left. And, of course, they have probably captured a ton from retreating Iraqi units.
Al Qaeda affiliated units had access to large numbers of these weapons for quite some time. There is actually a video from 2010 or 2011 of an Al Qaeda operation where they dressed up exactly like Iraqi special operations forces, cleanly shaven, with proper uniforms, and correct equipment, to include M-9s and M-4s, and then used seized military vehicles to impersonate their way into Iraqi barracks, where they executed several dozen members of the Iraqi army.
As far as the Shi'ites go, Iranian special operations units, especially the Pasdaran ones, have access to M-4s and M-16s and have so for some time. They are many photos that can be found via Google of them marching in parades carrying them at port arms. They also provide these weapons to their allies in the region, such as Hezbollah. There is also some evidence that Hezbollah may have acquired some of their M-16s and M-4s from Palestinian Authority officials, which we supplied back in the 1990s and early-to-mid 2000s.
Very smart if he did not have a folding BUIS at his disposal. With this set up he has it co witnessed with fixed sights, I doubt this fact is lost on him. Seemingly his shit is laced pretty tight. As many have said here, he looks to be trained by us, and effectively so.
Isn't that a fake Comp M4? The Aimpoint lettering is bright white.
the idea that people who live in caves are weak is a little bit stupid.
people who live in caves are hard, accustomed to living hard lives and surviving.
the line from generation kill comes to mind: "sleeping on the ground and living on rice…these are hard men. You guys whine if your MRE doesn’t come with pop-tarts"