Story highlights Investigators analyzed more than 40,000 items recovered from ISIS forces

Some of the weapons that were eventually diverted to ISIS was originally provided by the US

Washington (CNN) The majority of weapons used by ISIS since 2014 originated in China, Russia and Eastern Europe, according to a new report from a Belgian research group that studied the issue.

Conflict Armament Research deployed a team of field investigators across ISIS frontline positions in both Iraq and Syria between July 2014 and November 2017, and analyzed more than 40,000 items recovered from ISIS forces.

Researchers deployed with local forces fighting ISIS, mainly Iraqi government forces in Iraq and Kurdish forces in northern Syria, and studied everything recovered or left behind by ISIS in liberated areas.

The items recovered encompassed everything from weapons, ammunition as well as chemical components procured by the terror group to manufacture improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to be used on the battlefield.

According to the report, the unauthorized transfer of munitions that were originally intended to benefit groups fighting in an already chaotic and violent environment eventually found their way to ISIS.

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