An official letter dated in mid-2012 from the head of administrative affairs, Major General Hamid Assad al-Murai to the Minister of Interior Mohammed Shaar, reveals an urgent request from Aleppo’s police headquarters requesting huge quantities of ammunition and weapons.
The letter revelas that there was a difference between what was required and what was available in the ministry’s warehouses.
In the city of Aleppo, of the 3,000 Kalashnikov rifles requested by Aleppo‘s police headquarters, the ministry had only 282. And in terms of PK machine guns, the ministry had nothing to send to Aleppo’s police which requested 205 of this type of weapon.
The shocking comparisons between the number requested and number available is further revealed in details stating that the ministry had only 30 Browning 9mm pistols while the required number was 3,000. In addition only 6 Maikarov 8.5 mm guns were available form a requested 1,000.
Moreover, the ministry’s letter revealed its inability to provide Aleppo’s police with any smoke bombs out of the required 2,000, and that it had only 2,760 tear gas canisters out of the 10,000 sought.
Regarding personal protection equipment, the official letter showed a large deficit in stock; the ministry had only 64 bullet-proof helmets while 450 were required. 9 bullet proof vests out of the 450 requested were available.
Even military uniforms disn't exist in the ministry’s warehouses. No training shoes, vests, or belts are available, and all stocks of these items had been used. The total requested by Aleppo’s police were close to 15,000 pieces.
The ministry’s slump in stocks reached “sponge mattresses and pillows" , the letter showed. Aleppo police requested 2,000 items, and the ministry reply revealed that it had only 60 mattresses and pillows.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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