By Dan O’Huiginn

The Croatian Foreign Ministry denied this week an allegation in a New York Times story that it had shipped arms to Syria via Jordan.

However, export figures obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) show that last December, Jordan suddenly began buying Croatian weapons including rocket or grenade launchers, artillery guns, and large volumes of ammunition. Paying $6.5 million US dollars, Jordan bought 230 tonnes of weaponry – enough to fill several planes.. The shipments do not follow regular business patterns. Croatia's previous arms exports to that country consist, in total, of 15 pistols worth US$1053 sold in 2001.

The shipments appear to be supported by information on the ground in Syria.

Within weeks of the trade, powerful new weapons began appearing among Syrian rebel fighters. They match the categories listed in the Croatian export records: rocket and grenade launchers, artillery guns, and plenty of ammunition. What's more, this new arsenal was distinctively Yugoslavian. In YouTube videos, Syrians pose with M-60 and M-79 antitank guns, designed in Tito-era Yugoslavia, and with the Croatian-made RBG-6 grenade launcher  . They fire Soviet RPG-22 rocket launchers, now found in the Croatian army.

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