International investigators have found a suspected “weapon pipeline” from Iran through Somalia to Yemen where Shiite rebels are battling the government, according to a report released on Wednesday. The analysis by Conflict Armament Research (CAR) is based on the seizure in February and March this year of weapons from dhows, traditional sailing vessels, in the Arabian Sea. Although their findings were “relatively limited”, the investigators said their analysis “suggests the existence of a weapon pipeline extending from Iran to Somalia and Yemen”. It said that traffickers offload weapons in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in northern Somalia “for local arms markets or as transhipment points for onward supply to Yemen”.
