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Articles on Small arms proliferation

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A stash of Kalashnikovs and locally made hunting rifles surrendered by a local vigilante group in Zamfara State, northwest Nigeria. Photo by Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images

Arms trade to Africa can be opaque: why this is dangerous

New illicit flows of arms and ammunition contribute to fueling conflict and instability in West Africa.
A Taliban fighter, wearing U.S. clothing and carrying U.S. weapons, looks through a captured night-vision device. Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Taliban, Islamic State arm themselves with weapons US left behind

Despite efforts to prevent militant groups from getting weapons, they often get their hands on U.S. equipment and use it to attack American troops.
Armed men protecting their livestock from rivals in a dry northern Kenya region which borders South Sudan and Uganda. Reuters/Goran Tomasevic

With proliferation of small arms, absence of war does not equal peace

Ending a war is not enough. The challenge for post-conflict situations in Africa is to escape the inter-war lawlessness maintained and reproduced by groups that have access to arms.

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