Islamic State Being Trained to Fly Captured Fighter Jets

In Syria, it is being reported that Iraqi pilots who have joined the Islamic State are training members of the group to fly in three captured fighter jets. This information comes from a group monitoring the war who says that it was the first time that militant group had actually flown the planes.

The group has mostly been seen over al-Jarrah Syrian, which is the captured al-Jarrah Syrian military airport east of Aleppo, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing witnesses in Syria's northern Aleppo province.

"They have trainers, Iraqi officers who were pilots before for (former Iraqi president) Saddam Hussein," he 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."

So far no information has been reported on whether or not the planes had weaponry on board or whether or not they were able to fly longer distances, but witnesses are saying that they appear to be MiG 21 or MiG 23 models captured from the Syrian military.

One of the main bases of Islamic State lies east of the countryside of Aleppo. The group has so far seized territory in Syria and in neighboring Iraq.