Friday, January 13, 2017

The Islamic State Is Now Using Hobby Drones To Bomb Iraqi Forces In Mosul

An Iraqi special forces Counter Terrorism Service member shoots at a drone flown by Islamic State group jihadists in Mosul's al-Rifaq neighbourhood on January 8, 2017 (AFP Photo/Dimitar DILKOFF)

AFP: IS using hobby drones to bomb Iraqi forces in Mosul: US official

Washington (AFP) - Islamic State jihadists are using small commercial drones to attack Iraqi security forces in the battle for Mosul, a US commander said Wednesday.

Colonel Brett Sylvia, who commands an "advise and assist" US unit in Iraq, said IS fighters are attaching small munitions to quadcopters in an attempt to kill local forces as they retake Mosul, the last major IS bastion in Iraq.

"They are small drones with small munitions that they've been dropping," Sylvia said.

While the munitions were no larger than "a small little grenade," he said, that was enough to do what "Daesh does, and that's just, you know, indiscriminate killing," he said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

The group's use of small drones is not new, Sylvia said, though initially they were mainly used for reconnaissance.

"They are (now) using them to drop munitions as Iraqi forces push into Mosul," he said.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This is just one more nightmare scenario for anti-terrorism organisations around the world to be worried about. This blog .... and many others .... have been predicting that it is only a matter of time before such armed drones are used to launch a terror attack at a major public event. And while the damage from such a drone will be small .... the pshychological impact if it is used at a sport stadium (the Super Bowl), or at a massive outdoor event (the U.S. Presidential inauguration) .... will be massive.

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