The traders operate in the capital Sana’a and other areas under control of the Houthis.

Weapons dealers in Yemen are openly using the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to sell Kalashnikovs, pistols, grenades and grenade-launchers.

The traders operate in the capital Sana’a and other areas under control of the Houthis, a rebel group backed by Iran and proscribed as terrorists by the US and Australian governments.

The advertisements are mostly in Arabic and aimed primarily at Yemeni customers in a country where the number of guns is often said to outnumber the population by three to one.

The BBC has found several examples online, offering weapons at prices in both Yemeni and Saudi riyals.

The words beside the weapons are designed to lure in the buyers.

“Premium craftsmanship and top-notch warranty,” says one advertisement. “The Yemeni-modified AK is your best choice.”

A demonstration video, filmed at night, shows the seller blasting off a 30-round magazine on full automatic.

Another offers sand-coloured Pakistani-produced Glock pistols for around $900 each.

  • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zipEnglish
    66·
    3 months ago

    Oh dear god you normally have to go pretty far into the dark web to see something like this.

    Great work Elon, just amazing.

    • mommykink@lemmy.worldEnglish
      33·
      3 months ago

      You really don’t this is some 2014-era “le dark webz” scaremongering shit. I guarantee you your local city (if you’re in the US) has a gun BST Facebook group lol. Not to mention that on the actual dark web, you’ll find gun trades honeypots within seconds

      • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zipEnglish
        17·
        3 months ago

        The difference being that those are local groups where you hopefully are not purchasing or selling a weapon to or from a group of people the United States Military is currently at war with (conducting kinetic operations, w/e) and has designated a terrorist group.

        Yeah, its not hard to find places to buy guns on the internet.

        It normally is fairly hard to find places to do so from terrorists or organized criminal groups overseas. Partially because, as you say, most of these you find quickly are honeypots, or scams, and finding ‘legit’ markets is not easy.

      • boonhet@lemm.eeEnglish
        5·
        3 months ago

        How do you even find things that aren’t honeypots over there?

        I’ve no interest in guns myself but honestly, everything is so suspicious over there… Cheap ass drugs, supposedly real US dollars, etc…

    • circuscritic@lemmy.caEnglish
      12·
      3 months ago

      This is bordering on clickbait, because of course weapons are being sold in some form or fashion at most forums or marketplace in Yemen.

      It’s a country that has been wrecked by civil war and years of a genocidal air campaign by the Saudis, and now intermittent targeted strikes by American and British naval forces.

      I would be shocked if most of those people aren’t also selling those openly at their local Bazaar or market.

      • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zipEnglish
        6·
        3 months ago

        I… uh…

        …ok.

        So, if you go on Facebook, or Craiglist, and then privately buy or sell a firearm that is:

        Fully Automatic

        Does not meet required barrel length for its caliber

        Is a fucking grenade or other explosive

        Sold to or purchased from a person in a state you do not reside in

        And/or

        You do not also do the required paperwork (and usually a background check on the purchaser) to indicate to the government that you have sold/purchased a firearm, or at least keep a record of this for yourself…

        …in almost every state in the US, you are now likely a felon, should your activities become noticed by law enforcement.

        https://www.findlaw.com/consumer/consumer-transactions/private-gun-sale-laws-by-state.html

        In fact, the ATF and FBI have quite often done honeypot operations in these kinds of groups.

        Please tell me you can see the difference between exploiting the loopholes in a country with a highly complex array or firearms laws, and an open air bazaar in a foreign country with basically no gun laws.

        Twitter/X, which is, last I checked, a US based and registered company, is now facilitating unregulated firearms sales to a potentially international audience, and again, it is facilitating arms transfers to or from persons and entities the US likely considers to be terrorists.

        I do not have to have any political opinion regarding the Houthis to be able to tell you that this is yet another gigantic legal quagmire for Twitter/X.

        • circuscritic@lemmy.caEnglish
          7·
          3 months ago

          Why are you assuming that there is a state of law and order to any degree, outside of maybe the capital…?

          Are you aware that we’re talking about Yemen…?

          Notice that Wikipedia page for their civil war doesn’t currently have an end date i.e. it’s still active…

          It’s not like Twitter is providing up support for these transactions, I’m saying it’s not surprising they exist on a public forum like Twitter for a country that’s ravaged by a decade war and famine.

          Just like how kids in the United States sell drugs on Twitter or Instagram.

          So no, Twitter is not automatically liable just because people are abusing the platform. I’m not saying it can’t get there, just that it’s not that simple.

          Regardless, I wasn’t saying anything about the legality of it for Twitter.

          • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zipEnglish
            1·
            3 months ago

            I am not. I in fact said the opposite.

            Please tell me you can see the difference between exploiting the loopholes in a country with a highly complex array or of firearms laws, and an open air bazaar in a foreign country with basically no gun laws.

            EDIT: Now that I’m quoting myself, that or should be an of, whoops.

            • circuscritic@lemmy.caEnglish
              2·
              3 months ago

              At no point did I mention laws, or legal loopholes.

              And I certainly never mentioned anything about the United States, or the legal liability of Twitter, except as in response to your comment.

              I think you’re confusing my acknowledgment of the daily reality of a country that is currently divided between 3 and 5 major and minor factions, all in various states of civil conflict, with being something else entirely.

              I wasn’t providing any opinion, or analysis, on the legality from Twitter’s perspective. I certainly wasn’t making any comparisons to laws in the United States and Yemen, or anything else that you’ve been talking about since your first comment.

              I would make the “duh no shit this is clickbait” observation if the BBC ran yet another story about how kids are selling drugs on Snapchat or Instagram.

        • circuscritic@lemmy.caEnglish
          8·
          3 months ago

          No, we’re acknowledging that countries wrecked by civil war and intermittent famines going back a decade, aren’t known for their ability to police domestic issues fairly, on time, or even at all. I’d be more interested to know what percent of the households are NOT armed.

          For the record, I said nothing about any government, or political groups/militias. They’re armed primarily by their proxy sponsor, I’m talking about retail arms sale to civilians, bandits, normies, and scared parents alike.

          Unless you think IRCG is arming the Houthis via Twitter.

          • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.caEnglish
            3·
            3 months ago

            “Avinatan, my boyfriend, is still there, and we need to bring them back before it’s going to be too late. We don’t want to lose more people than we already lost,” Argamani said.

            False. You mentioned the Saudi government, the UK government, and the US government. You just neglected to mention the Houthis who are engaged in attacking civilians in international waters. Which is the reason for the air strikes by the US/UK which you’re denouncing.

            The people in Yemen are humans, not animals. As humans they are responsible for their actions. Cut out this white man’s burden nonsense. That narrative is older than all of us.

            • circuscritic@lemmy.caEnglish
              6·
              3 months ago

              I didn’t denounce anyone, even among the groups and actors I mentioned. I simply gave a very brief look at situation. You’re mad that I didn’t provide a complete and detailed analysis, which is irrelevant to my point about civilians bearing arms.

              Not for nothing, but your politics are pretty clear, and if it was relevant at ALL to this subject, I’d happily engage. But it’s not, so stop yelling into the wind to distract from the fact that your comments are clearly about your disdain of the Yemini people.

          • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zipEnglish
            2·
            3 months ago

            You are also aware that the Houthis have been and still are indiscriminately targeting civilian cargo ships of any nationality, yes?

            Its not like all of these ships are going to or from Israel, or registered as Israeli or US vessels.

            Its actually quite an oddity to see NATO, Indian Navy and PLAN vessels all doing anti-piracy missions in the same place and time.

            • circuscritic@lemmy.caEnglish
              2·
              3 months ago

              I’m going to need you to actually quote which part of my comment you’re responding to.

              As far as I can tell, what you wrote has exactly nothing to do with anything that I said.