Free Syrian Army fighters look at the sky as they stand on a truck mounted with an anti-aircraft gun in Maarat Al-Nouman, Idlib province May 20, 2014. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Free Syrian Army fighters look at the sky as they stand on a truck mounted with an anti-aircraft gun in Maarat Al-Nouman, Idlib province May 20, 2014. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

The intelligence service of Germany has disclosed that the radical extremist ISIS group possess anti-aircraft weapons that could down passenger air carriers.

The German spies, according to the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, divulged the information in a confidential briefing late last week. The paper did not identify sources.

The BND federal intelligence service reportedly told the German lawmakers the rocket launchers, identified as Manpads or Man Portable Air Defence Systems, that the ISIS now have in its possession are portable surface-to-air systems. They were believed to have been seized from the Syrian army stocks. The systems were a mix of old and modern and advanced weaponry. The old ones were dated as far back as 1970s.

Despite the ongoing tensions, several airlines still fly over northern Iraq's airspace. Some of them include Qatar Airways and Austrian Airlines. Bild said the anti-aircraft systems, thought to be designed by the Russians, could have been manufactured in Bulgaria or China. The paper also added the Manpads could potentially target passenger planes during take-off and landing.

Initially developed in the 1940s, Manpads had been greatly perceived as potential terrorist weapons that might be used against commercial airliners or even low-flying military helicopters. An example would be the April 1994 downing of the Dassault Falcon 50 airline that carried Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira. A surface-to-air missile struck one of the wings of the airline as it prepared to land in Kigali, Rwanda. Then its tail was hit by a second missile, prompting the plane to burst into flames in mid-air. The airline crashed into the garden of the presidential palace, then exploded on impact. The accident sparked the Rwandan Genocide.

There was also the August 1995 incident when a Manpads heat-seeking 9K38 Igla shot down a Mirage 2000D over Bosnia. The missile was fired by air defence units of Army of Republika Srpska. On May 1999, during the Kargil conflict with India, Pakistan Army Air Defence forces used an Anka Mk-II to shot down a MiG-27 of the Indian Air Force.

There are at least 25 countries that manufacture the Manpads. They include the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden and Russia. Depending on the model, the missiles of these Manpads could go to about 1.5 to 1.8 m (5 to 6 ft) in length and weigh about 17 to 18 kg (37 to 40 lb).

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