Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State in Syria are training
members of the group to fly in three captured fighter jets, a group
monitoring the war said on Friday, saying it was the first time the
militant group had taken to the air.
Canada is assembling a camp in Kuwait to launch its own air campaign over Iraq, sending six CF-18 fighters, two surveillance craft and a refuelling aircraft to help the U.S.-led coalition’s air strikes against Islamic State. The government says Canada will be in a position to begin air strikes against Islamic State at some point within the last seven days of October.
Islamic State has been flying the planes over the captured al-Jarrah military airport east of Aleppo, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report and U.S. Central Command said it was not aware of Islamic State flying jets in Syria.
“They have trainers, Iraqi officers who were pilots before for (former Iraqi president) Saddam Hussein,” Abdulrahman said. “People saw the flights, they went up many times from the airport and they are flying in the skies outside the airport and coming back,” he said, citing witnesses in northern Aleppo province near the base, which is 70 kilometressouth of the Turkish border.
Witnesses reported the flights were at a low altitude and only lasted five to 10 minutes before landing, the observatory said. It was not possible to reach the Syrian government for comment and state media did not mention the report.
It was not clear whether the jets were equipped with weaponry or whether the pilots could fly longer distances in the planes, which witnesses said appeared to be MiG 21 or MiG 23 models captured from the Syrian military.
Read more: Islamic State training fighter pilots in captured jets, monitoring group says - The Globe and Mail
Canada is assembling a camp in Kuwait to launch its own air campaign over Iraq, sending six CF-18 fighters, two surveillance craft and a refuelling aircraft to help the U.S.-led coalition’s air strikes against Islamic State. The government says Canada will be in a position to begin air strikes against Islamic State at some point within the last seven days of October.
Islamic State has been flying the planes over the captured al-Jarrah military airport east of Aleppo, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report and U.S. Central Command said it was not aware of Islamic State flying jets in Syria.
“They have trainers, Iraqi officers who were pilots before for (former Iraqi president) Saddam Hussein,” Abdulrahman said. “People saw the flights, they went up many times from the airport and they are flying in the skies outside the airport and coming back,” he said, citing witnesses in northern Aleppo province near the base, which is 70 kilometressouth of the Turkish border.
Witnesses reported the flights were at a low altitude and only lasted five to 10 minutes before landing, the observatory said. It was not possible to reach the Syrian government for comment and state media did not mention the report.
It was not clear whether the jets were equipped with weaponry or whether the pilots could fly longer distances in the planes, which witnesses said appeared to be MiG 21 or MiG 23 models captured from the Syrian military.
Read more: Islamic State training fighter pilots in captured jets, monitoring group says - The Globe and Mail
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