Field research and detailed expert analysis of photographic and video evidence since June 2014 has found that the Iraqi militias have benefited from the transfers of arms - manufactured in at least 16 countries. The militias that comprise the “Popular Mobilisation Units” (PMU) deploy more than 100 types of arms - from heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery, as well as a wide range of small arms, including standard-issue Kalashnikov and M-16 automatic rifles, machine guns, handguns and sniper rifles. These predominantly Shia militias have used the arms to carry out the enforced disappearance and abduction of thousands of mainly Sunni men and boys, as well as committing extrajudicial executions, acts of torture and the wanton destruction of property (see examples below).
