Kurdish peshmerga soldier prays at a battle field in Mahmoudiyah, Iraq, after Kurdish fighters took control of the northern village from the Islamic State group. Photo by BETA/AP

According to the report published by research group Conflict Armament Research, Serbia is the fifth leading country of origin of IS ammunition, after China, the Soviet Union, the United States and Russia.

Conflict Armament Research said it documented ammunition used by IS which was manufactured in 21 countries, with dates of production ranging from 1945 to 2014.

“Two production periods, the 1970s-80s and the 2000s, are most represented in the sample and primarily consist of ammunition manufactured in China, Serbia, Soviet Union/Russian Federation, and the US,” the report says.

Out of an overall 1,730 types of ammunition analysed, 142 were produced in Serbia, as compared with 445 produced in China, 338 in the Soviet Union, 323 in the United States and 154 in the Russian Federation.

In terms of ammunition produced from 2010 onwards, Serbia was ranked fourth as a country of origin, after Bulgaria, China and Turkey.

The recently-produced ammunition was manufactured in the Serbian-state owned Prvi Partizan factory in the town of Uzice.

Prvi Partizan has been producing ammunition for 86 years and has supplied the Serbian Army and police as well as many foreign armies. It also produces hunting and sporting ammunition which is sold all over the world.

The findings of the report come from a series of Conflict Armament Research field investigations in the Kurdish regions of northern Iraq and northern Syria during July and August.

In Syria, the investigation team worked alongside Kurdish People’s Protection Units to document ammunition captured during offensives against IS forces, primarily near Kobane and Serekani.

In Iraq, the team worked closely with Peshmerga forces loyal to the Kurdish regional government to document spent cartridges from captured IS positions.

In August, Balkan countries Albania and Croatia announced that they would start to transfer large caches of weapons and ammunition to Iraqi Kurdish forces to help them stem the advance of Islamic State militants.