Direct proof of use
Conflict Armament Research documented the RPG-22 in Islamic State forces' Syrian battlefield materiel during and after the battle of Kobane. CAR's April 2015 Kobane dispatch states that Islamic State forces deployed Bulgarian and Russian RPG-22 rocket launchers in Kobane, Syria, where Kurdish YPG forces had captured significant quantities of Islamic State weapons and ammunition during the September 2014-January 2015 battle.
The same CAR report adds a separate Syria datapoint: before the February 2015 Kobane field documentation, CAR had observed another Russian RPG-22 captured from Islamic State forces by YPG units near Qamishli in northeastern Syria in September 2014. CAR identified two Russian RPG-22 launchers as 1985 production with closely related lot and serial numbers, and one Bulgarian launcher as 1992 production.
Sources: Islamic State Weapons in Kobane
Timeline
The documented RPG-22 record begins in September 2014 near Qamishli, where YPG units captured a Russian RPG-22 from Islamic State forces according to CAR. On September 13, 2014, Islamic State forces began the siege of Kobane, which CAR says lasted until the group's retreat from the city on January 26, 2015.
Between February 20 and 27, 2015, CAR investigators worked with YPG units in Kobane to document weapons and ammunition captured from Islamic State forces. In that field sample, CAR documented Russian and Bulgarian RPG-22 launchers and described them as launchers deployed by Islamic State forces in Kobane. CAR's later three-year Islamic State weapons report counted five 72.5 mm RPG-22-type rocket launchers documented in Syria and one in Iraq across its 2014-2017 Islamic State dataset.
Sources: Islamic State Weapons in Kobane, Weapons of the Islamic State
Battlefield role
In the Syrian Civil War, the RPG-22 appears as a short-range disposable anti-armor launcher in Islamic State hands rather than as a system tied to a named single firing incident. CAR grouped the RPG-22 with advanced anti-tank weapons documented at Kobane, alongside MILAN anti-tank guided weapon systems and other captured or recovered materiel.
The evidence supports Islamic State deployment and possession of RPG-22 launchers in the Kobane and Qamishli areas, followed by YPG capture and CAR field documentation. It does not establish the full supply route, the number fired, target effects, or a complete inventory of RPG-22 launchers held by Islamic State forces in Syria.
Sources: Islamic State Weapons in Kobane, Weapons of the Islamic State
