US supply Ukraine with intercepted weapons meant for Yemen Houthis
The US has supplied Ukraine with an intercepted batch of small arms and ammunition meant for Iran-supported Houthis in Yemen.
As reported by the Central Command of the Armed Forces of the US (CENTCOM), the batch reportedly contains over 5,000 AK-47 assault rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, RPG-7s and over 500,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition.
U.S. Government Transfers Captured Weapons
– U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 9, 2024
On Apr. 4, 2024, the U.S. government transferred over 5,000 AK-47s, machine guns, sniper rifles, RPG-7s and over 500,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces. This constitutes enough materiel to equip one UKR BDE… pic.twitter.com/Ydecq6OFAo
These munitions were originally seized by U.S. Central Command and partner naval forces from four separate transiting stateless vessels between 22 May 2021 to 15 Feb 2023. The munitions were being transferred from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to the Houthis in Yemen.
"The government obtained ownership of these munitions on December 1, 2023, through the Department of Justice’s civil forfeiture claims against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)."
The Central Command of the US Armed Forces officially confirmed on 4 October that it supplied the Armed Forces of Ukraine with about 1.1 million 7.62-mm cartridges of Iranian origin confiscated during a smuggling attempt to Yemen.
But the supply of critical artillery munitions and air defence from the US to Ukraine has been stalled by Republican lawmakers who have been blocking an aid package of over US$ 60 billion in the Congress since last autumn.