(MENAFN- Arab News) BAGHDAD: Iraqi security forces lost 2300 Humvee armored vehicles when the Islamic State terrorist group overran the northern city of Mosul Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said.
'In the collapse of Mosul we lost a lot of weapons' Abadi said in an interview with Iraqiya state TV.
'We lost 2300 Humvees in Mosul alone.'
While the exact price of the vehicles varies depending on how they are armored and equipped it is clearly a hugely expensive loss that has boosted IS' capabilities.
Last year the US State Department approved a possible sale to Iraq of 1000 Humvees with increased armor machine guns grenade launchers other gear and support that was estimated to cost $579 million. Clashes began in Mosul Iraq's second city late on June 9 2014 and Iraqi forces lost it the following day to IS.
The militants gained ample arms ammunition and other equipment when multiple Iraqi divisions fell apart in the country's north abandoning gear and shedding uniforms in their haste to flee.
IS has used captured Humvees which were provided to Iraq by the United States in subsequent fighting rigging some with explosives for suicide bombings.
Iraqi security forces backed by militias have regained significant ground from IS in Diyala and Salaheddin provinces north of Baghdad.
But that momentum was slashed in mid-May when IS overran Ramadi the capital of Anbar province west of Baghdad where Iraqi forces had held out against militants for more than a year.