AK-47: ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction’!

Disagreements and conflicts have been a part of history since mankind’s creation. It is always well said that Conflicts are inevitable but combat is optional. But as a sad reality, this option has been extensively exercised over the past few decades. Men started with the rocks, spikes, and arrows and ended up at nukes.

Nukes are commonly referred to as Weapons of Mass destruction (WMDs). Cane used the stone as a deadly weapon to murder Abel. After a period of time, the US used these WMDs to bomb the Japanese in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From the early age stones to modern nuclear warheads, the evolution of the weapon system cost millions of lives to mankind. The world witnessed the first practical use of these WMDs in 1945 (Hiroshima & Nagasaki Bombings). More than 200,000 people lost their lives in this horrific event. As consequence, this terrible event was able to put a full stop to WW II. Since the end of this war, 9 states have acquired this satanic technology of devastation. As a matter of fact, since 1945 not even a single person has been killed by these WMDs till today. After the end of WWII, countries around the globe jumped into a series of conflicts whose effects and aftershocks are still witnessed in this contemporary world. Millions of people lost their lives in these conflicts full of terror and bloodshed.

Whenever we think about war casualties; we only wonder about Nukes or in other words Weapons of Mass destruction. But on the other edge of the spectrum, there is some more sophisticated and deadliest invention of mankind that outnumbers the nukes when it comes to war causalities and destruction to human life. It’s nothing but a state-of-the-art shoulder weapon known as AK-47 or automatic Kalashnikov-47.

Built-in 1947 by Russian man Mikhail Kalashnikov, today AK-47 is the most extensively used weapon in the world. AK-47 or commonly known as the Kalashnikov rifle is something that needs no introduction in this world of combats and wars. The caliber of its reputation can be deemed from the fact that the name Kalashnikov holds more fame than the name of man who gave genesis to the nuclear weapons “Robert Oppenheimer”. AK-47 has its fame when it comes to its effectiveness in combat. Its prominence can be estimated from the fact that Mozambique has it on its National Flag. This weapon was so proven that a bunch of irregular soldiers equipped with AK-47 in the command of Charles Taylor were able to take over the capital of Liberia in 1989 and successfully orchestrated a coup.

From barren terrains of Afghanistan to the wild forests of Vietnam and from heated deserts of the Middle East to the shivering lands of central Asia, the bloodshed caused by this weapon is beyond imagination. According to ‘’The Globalist’’, each year somewhere around 250,000 people lose their life due to the wounds inflicted by the AK-47. It is believed that this rifle is produced in almost every corner of the globe with or without any license. Around 100 million units of this rifle are still available in the market. Far East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa are seen as the hotspot of one of the deadliest conflicts of history. Surprisingly most casualties in these conflicts are caused by this deadliest weapon. For instance, the second Congo war lasted from 1998 to 2003 and squeezed the life of 3.6

million people out of which 3 million were caused by AK-47. Conflicts in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Nigeria, and Syria are not exceptional when it comes to the life-loss caused by this bloodthirsty weapon.

So, a question arises what makes AK-47 the deadliest weapon of history and makes its way to one of the most complicated and hot battlegrounds of the world? First of all, it’s about the state-of-the-art mechanism and its competing price in the market of armaments. AK-47 is the most classic and successful invention of the war Industry. It is a reliable gun that proved its mettle in the deserts of Syria and Sudan. Its fine mechanism is also famous for its reliability on the highest battlefields of the world like Siachen. Last but not least; in addition to this, its economic cost attracts the clients more than any other weapon. Its local production makes it easier to reach clients at a fine and competitive price. For example, A local unit of this weapon costs around 150 USD. Secondly, its appearance in almost every single conflict and confrontation of the world leaves a series of questions in our minds. It is believed that during the disintegration of the USSR masses of stockpiles of AK-47 went missing due to the exploitation by warlords and mafias across the world. Except this AK-47 was the only export left for the moth-eaten Russian economy after the end of cold-war. Covert actions by the intelligence agencies across the globe also led to the scattering of this bloodthirsty rifle.

During the peak of violence and battles, warlords around the globe backed by their state governments used the technique of supply & demand to trade this grim invention of the war industry. Today different treaties and agreements are articulated that keeps a strong check on the nuclear arms race and discourage every single state from pursuing nuclear technology but on the other hand, despite arms-embargo by the UN and other international organizations, AK-47 is being intensely used to spread bloodshed in conflicts. So it raises question marks on the peace of world. It urges the spectators to think that what actually is constituting genuine destruction to mankind on a sure-enough massive scale.