Nigerian troops in the northeast recovered at least three Type 56-2 assault rifles between Jan. and Feb. 10, 2022.
According to Humangle, the rifles are known to be in the inventory of the Police’s tactical units.
The Type 56-2 assault rifles with side-folding stock popular with the Nigeria Police Mobile Force were recovered from insurgents in clashes with troops in the past few weeks.
The rifle is a variant of the Type 56 series manufactured by Chinese state arms factories, comprising the Type 56, Type 56-1, Type 56-2, Type 56-1S, and Type 56C rifles.
On Thursday, Feb. 10, troops of the 149th Battalion and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) on fighting patrol recovered two motorcycles and four AK pattern rifles, including a Type 56-2 in Dunga Lawanti village near Gubio in Borno State.
On Tuesday, Feb. 1, the Army’s 27th Brigade and CJTF ambushed insurgents at the outskirts of Girboa village in Yobe State during which the troops recovered another Type 56-2 alongside a Type 56-1 rifle.
On Sunday, Jan. 30, the 109th Strike Force Battalion located in Magumeri in northern Borno recovered supplies, mobile devices, three AK rifles, including a Type 56-2 pattern rifle during a fighting patrol and night ambush towards Mallumti village.
The rifles were likely captured after raids and attacks targeting Nigeria police units.
In Nov. 2021, three Chinese Type 56-2 were said to have been looted by ISWAP during an attack on a police facility in Buni Yadi area of Yobe State.
In July of the same year, four Type 56-2 rifles were reported to have been captured from a Nigeria Police convoy along the Auno-Jakana axis of road connecting Maiduguri – Damaturu.
HumAngle in January reported that an audit by the Auditor-General’s office found that thousands of firearms, including AK pattern rifles, belonging to the Police were missing.
The audit report stated that “the total number of lost firearms as reported as of December 2018 stood at 178,459 pieces. Out of this number, 88,078 were AK-47 rifles.”