The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution aimed at preventing extremists from procuring arms, especially small and medium-sized weapons, which this 15-member body claims to “continue to pose threats to international peace and security and cause significant loss of life.”
The Council has “strongly condemned” the continuous flow of weapons, military equipment, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAS) and their components and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) between the Islamic State (ISIL / Da’esh), Al Qaeda, their subsidiaries and related groups, other illegally armed groups and criminal organizations.
UN Member States are encouraged to destroy and hinder arms procurement, distribution and distribution networks, systems and components between such groups and organizations. Member States have been specifically requested to achieve the necessary capacity to take appropriate legal action against those who are consciously engaged in the distribution of weapons and the management of small arms and light weapons.
It is also recommended that the procedure for marking and monitoring small arms and light weapons be initiated in order to improve the possibility of controlling such weapons that could come into the hands of terrorists through illegal trafficking.
UN member states are also invited to strengthen their judicial, police and border capacities. and to develop their ability to research network for the arms trade in order to establish the link between transnational organized crime and terrorism.
The Council also invited all states to consider becoming members in related international and regional organizations, to help eliminate arms supply to terrorists and to fully implement their obligations towards those organizations currently members.
Prior to the adoption of the text, the three top UN officials involved in the fight against terrorism, informed the Council of the complex efforts undertaken by many agencies and committees to fulfill the organization’s promise of a “general” fight against terrorism and preventing terrorists from procuring arms.
Jehangir Khan, chairman of the newly-established UN Office for the Fight against Terrorism, told Council members “a wide range of terrorists who procure new deadly technologies and new weapons, including weapons of mass destruction, pose a serious threat to international peace and security.”
