US Navy seized arsenal of thousands of Russian and Chinese weapons in Arabian Sea

The United States Navy intercepted in the northern Arabian Sea a shipment of thousands of weapons of war, many of Russian and Chinese manufacture, aboard a flagless ship, the central command of the naval forces of the North American country reported this Sunday.

From the Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain, Central Command said in a statement that the cache includes “Dozens of guided Russian anti-tank missiles, thousands of Chinese Type 56 assault rifles and hundreds of PKM machine guns, telescopic rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.”

Among the materials seized were also advanced optical sights, he added.

The weapons were found last Thursday by the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterrey and its US Coast Guard Advanced Interdiction Team (AIT). during a “routine check in international waters” on a “dhow” (a traditional Arab sailboat used in commercial activities) without a flag, carried out “in accordance with customary international law”, according to the note.

After passing all the illegal cargo to the American vessel, an operation which lasted two days, the dhow was “assessed for its seaworthiness and after being interrogated, his crew received food and water before being released ”.

A video posted to the Fifth Fleet’s Facebook account shows the thousands of weapons deployed on what appears to be the deck of the USS Monterrey.

The central command added that he is still investigating the origin and destination of the weapons. The material is in the custody of the United States pending final disposal. The evaluation of results will be an inter-institutional effort.

Bahrain, a small island nation in the Persian Gulf, is home to the headquarters of the United States’ Fifth Naval Fleet. The base and navy personnel deployed there are critical to overseeing and maintaining security in some 20 countries or some 2.5 million square kilometers, from the Persian Gulf to parts of the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Oman, according to US data.

With information from EFE

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