How Did an American M4 Rifle End Up With a Jaish Terrorist Killed in J&K? The Weapon Trail Explained

Key Highlights

• It is claimed that the rifle has a cyclic rate of fire of 700-970 rounds per minute and an effective firing range of 500-600 meters. Offering greater manoeuvrability, the rifle has been used in several wars including the Syrian civil war, Iraqi civil war, Yemeni civil war, Colombian conflict, Kosovo war, Iraq and Afghanistan war after 9/11. M16/M4M4 carbine rifles were designed and developed in the 1980s and used extensively by NATO, including a variant reportedly in service with several militaries, including Pakistani special forces and the Special Security Unit of the Sindh Police. The Afghanistan-Pakistan Route The frequent use of M4 assault rifles by Pakistan-based terrorists is said to be a consequence of the US Army leaving behind arms and ammunition while pulling out from Afghanistan in 2021.
• Experts suggest that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) that has been helping terrorists with sophisticated weapons like M4 carbine rifles to further their "nefarious designs" in Jammu and Kashmir."After the withdrawal of Americans from Afghanistan, they have left a huge stock of arms and ammunition.
• Though the Americans claim that they destroyed most of it.
• But I think with canonisation and things of that kind, these weapons have fallen into the hands of the terrorists," defence expert Lt Gen Sanjay Kulkarni was quoted as saying by PTI.
• Shesh Paul Vaid, former Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police, asserted that there was no frequent use of M4 carbine rifles by terrorists in the region during his tenure - December 2016 to September 2018. The US Army's leftover weapons are reportedly being used by ISI to train terrorists."Let me first make it very clear that during my tenure as DGP, I have not come across the use of M4 rifles.