Grenades produced by Swiss arms maker RUAG have previously been seen in photos of al-Qaeda* and Free Syrian Army fighters. The company said that the grenades could come from those that were supplied to the United Arab Emirates in 2003-2004, Sputnik reports.
Members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham have released a photo of their trophies from a raid on a Daesh* cell in Idlib. Among the weapons found in the arms cache were several alleged OHG92 and HG85 grenades produced by the Swiss arms manufacturer RUAG, SonntagsBlick reported. At the same time, the Swiss government has not given a greenlight for weapons supplies to Syria. Moreover, it would be unable to do so under existing legislation.
A spokesman for RUAG said that the company hasn't determined which supply the grenades come from, as the image doesn't show their serial numbers, but confirmed that the grenades in the photo were produced by the company. Grenades of the type were supplied to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between 2003 and 2004 and were later spotted in the hands of al-Qaeda* and Free Syrian Army fighters in 2012.
An investigation by Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) revealed that the UAE had passed a portion of the 225,000 grenades supplied by RUAG on to Jordan, which borders Syria, in violation of the term of the sales agreement. The company's spokesman said that the grenades could come from that supply.
