Islamic State militants in northern Iraq have modern portable air defense systems that are capable of shooting down a passenger plane, Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported citing the country’s foreign intelligence agency.
According to the media report published on Sunday, the
Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) informed the German Bundestag of
the threat at a closed session last week.
The German intelligence agency said that the Islamic State(IS,
formerly ISIS) militants located in northern Iraq have obtained
air-defense systems from the captured military arsenal of the
Syrian Army, according to the report.
The IS militants have obtained the 1970s models as well as modern
man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). These light-weight
surface-to-air missile systems can be fired from the shoulder and
operated by one person.
“Unlike other air defense weapons, MANPADS are easy to use,
barely-trained militiamen can fire the weapon accurately,”
the report said, adding that the weapons are especially dangerous
for landing or taking off aircrafts.
German authorities have not yet confirmed the report. Several
airlines, including Austrian Airlines and Qatar Airways, still
fly in the airspace over northern Iraq in control of the
extremists.
Earlier several reports emerged saying that the militants in the
region were in possession of MANPADs. In particular, the
anti-government militants stormed the Tabqa air base in
north-central Syria, which enabled them to take control of the
whole Raqqa province– currently an IS stronghold - in August. The
militants reportedly seized a cache of the portable
surface-to-air missiles stored there. In October, there were
reports by the Iraqi military that IS
extremists had MANPADs in their arsenal.
The IS militants - assessed by the US as the best-funded
terrorists in the world - have seized large swaths of Syria and
northern Iraq and established a self-proclaimed caliphate in the
Middle East.
A US-led coalition launched airstrikes targeting the militants’
positions in Syria in September. These strikes joined US air
operations against the IS in Iraq which began a month earlier.
READ MORE: Anti-ISIS coalition bombing terrorist
positions in Iraq and Syria LIVE UPDATES
On Sunday, the US military and partner states conducted 12
airstrikes on the IS positions in Iraq, the US Central Command
said. Five separate airstrikes were conducted by the US military
against IS targets in Syria in the city of Kobani, US officials
added.
READ MORE: Kurdish, Iraqi troops up ante in fight against ISIS as US-led airstrikes continue