Firms from 20 countries are involved in the supply chain of components that end up in Islamic State group explosives, a study found Thursday, suggesting governments and firms need to do more to track the flow of cables, chemicals and other equipment.
The European Union-mandated study showed that 51 companies from countries including Turkey, Brazil and the United States produced, sold or received the more than 700 components used by the Islamic State group to build improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
IEDs are now being produced on a "quasi-industrial scale" by the militant group, which uses both industrial components that are regulated and widely available equipment such as fertilizer chemicals and mobile phones, according to Conflict Armament Research (CAR), which undertook the 20-month study.