Report: Islamic State May Use Drones To Drop Bombs On Britain, Or Other Western Countries

LONDON, UK – Islamic State has made dramatic advances in the use of commercial drones to drop munitions and it is “only a matter of time” before a terror attack using the machines is launched in Britain or another Western country, inews has been told.

Security sources have said that the jihadist group is actively seeking to export bombing expertise honed during recent battles in Syria and Iraq to followers based in Europe. Potential targets include VIPs, passenger aircraft and crowds gathered for sporting or outdoor music events.

“For Isis, the drone is a symbol of being technologically advanced and on the cutting edge. It catches the public imagination and is something people are scared of… The issue is that there is increasing grounds for belief that an attack is do-able. The security agencies are not only concerned about drones on the basis that they are new and unfamiliar but also that the maths adds up – they are precise and cheap and Isis has shown it has the knowledge.”

Arthur Holland Michel, co-director Centre for the Study of the Drone Criminal gangs The deployment of drones and “quadcopters” that can be easily bought on the UK high street has concerned police and the security services for a number of years amid evidence of their widespread use by criminal gangs to deliver contraband and weapons to prisons. But the threat has evolved rapidly in recent months after the Islamic State (IS) began to make regular use of modified drones, sourced over the internet and smuggled to workshops in its remaining strongholds via Turkey, to bomb opposition forces for the first time.

As IS faces the loss of its final centers of power in its Syrian “caliphate” and is widely predicted to return to an insurgency, its planners have vowed to concentrate efforts on attacking the West. Sources said there is a desire to move beyond tactics such as vehicle and knife attacks; and drones are emerging as a key offensive – and propaganda – tool.