The Mad Max Gunmaker Fighting ISIS (PHOTOS)
Kurdistan gunsmith Bakhtiar Sadradin Aziz is churning out an arsenal of lethal weapons from his gunworks in the basement of the Citadel in Erbil--to be used in the peshmerga's battle against ISIS.
Andrew W Nunn for The Daily Beast
Bakhtiar Sadradin Aziz holds an RPK variant which he says is to be modified to accept 7.62x39mm ammunition, as it is easier to find.
Andrew W Nunn for The Daily Beast
Bakhtiar Sadradin Aziz holds a Tokarev pistol in his workshop in the basement of the Citadel of Erbil.
Andrew W Nunn for The Daily Beast
Bakhtiar Sadradin Aziz holds an AK-47 that has been modified to accept 7.62x25mm ammunition and pistol magazines.
Andrew W Nunn for The Daily Beast
The lower receiver of an M16 rifle lays on the desk of Bakhtiar Sadradin Aziz, a gunsmith who works in the basement of the Citadel of Erbil. This M16 has been cut down and modified to function as a carbine-length rifle.
Andrew W Nunn for The Daily Beast
Peshmerga Capt. Amir Mohamed chats with Bakhtiar and Abdel Hakim in their family's shop in the basement of the Citadel of Erbil.
Andrew W Nunn for The Daily Beast
Bakhtiar Sadradin Aziz holds an AK-47 that has been modified to accept 7.62x25mm ammunition and pistol magazines.
Andrew W Nunn for The Daily Beast
Bakhtiar Sadradin Aziz holds 7.62x25mm ammunition for PPsH submachine guns and various Soviet pistols.
ANDREW W NUNN AWNphotography.com
Bakhtiar Sadradin Aziz holds a PPsH submachine gun that has had a grip installed and its butt stock removed.
Andrew W Nunn for The Daily Beast
Bakhtiar Sadradin Aziz reinstalls the front sight assembly onto a shortened M16 barrel in his workshop in the basement of the Citadel of Erbil.
Andrew W Nunn for The Daily Beast
Customers browse Bakhtiar’s shop and bring in weapons to be repaired, as seen in a mirror on the wall surrounded by belts full of shotgun shells and shotguns.
Andrew W Nunn for The Daily Beast
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