Iraq says 5.8 million weapons registered in national database: official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s interior ministry said Tuesday that 5.8 million weapons have been registered in a national database consolidating information on government-owned and confiscated arms, as part of ongoing efforts to bring unlicensed weapons under state control.

"The number of archived weapons within the Iraqi National Weapons Bank has reached 5,800,000 pieces,” ministry spokesperson Abbas al-Bahadli said during the ministry’s first annual conference of the Weapons Control and Regulation Offices held Monday.

Iraq continues to face widespread proliferation of unlicensed weapons, many of which are used in criminal activity and tribal conflicts. Successive governments have sought to curb their spread and impose tighter control over arms possession. An estimated eight million firearms are believed to be in circulation, contributing to recurring violence stemming from personal and social disputes in both federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

The interior ministry announced the database in December, consolidating information on government-owned weapons as well as arms that have been seized or confiscated. He added that the weapons have been coded and documented within the official database and follow “approved security and technical standards.”

On Tuesday, the ministry also said it is inaugurating the Directorate of Weapons Control and Regulation. Undersecretary for police affairs Hadi al-Rezeij said, “The goal of this directory is to achieve security and impose it,” noting that documenting and registering weapons is an “assisting element” for security.

To support the process, the federal government has established 864 registration offices across all Iraqi provinces, Bahadli detailed, adding that around 310,000 registration requests have been received and audited so far.

He noted that the process is conducted free of charge through the "Eye of Iraq" (Ayn Al-Iraq) application, with specialized offices handling all stages - from receiving and auditing weapons to formal registration and issuing legal possession licenses.

The federal government has set a firm deadline for the public to comply. The registration window remains open until December 31, 2026.