German intelligence: Islamic State has weapons that pose a danger to civil aviation

Germany’s intelligence services have reportedly warned the government that the Islamic State (ISIS) has possession of anti-aircraft weapons that pose a danger to civilian aviation, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag recently reported.

The newspaper cited an anonymous source as saying that intelligence officials revealed this information to a number of parliamentarians at the end of last week. The danger comes from anti-aircraft defence weapons able to target civil aviation carriers, especially in the north of Iraq.

According to the intelligence sources, the weapons owned by ISIS are modern portable air defence systems, or MANPADS, and were taken from the Syrian army. These systems were likely made in Russia, China or Bulgaria.

Meanwhile, the German intelligence agency told media that the number of “Islamic extremists” in the country is growing rapidly. According to the Associated Press, the “agency estimates that some 6,300 people in Germany are adherents of an ultraconservative strain of Islam known as Salafism”.

Citing unnamed security officials, one German weekly newspaper reported that the number of ISIS members leaving Germany to fight in Syria and Iraq, officially announced to be about 450, is likely to be far greater, and possibly as high as 1,800.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine quoted security sources as saying that around 50 people holding German passports and supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, have left to fight against the Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.

The magazine added that the fighters received ideological training in Belgium and Holland before receiving weapons training after arriving in the region.