ISIS Using Drones Armed With Hand Grenades

The Islamic State (ISIS) is now using drones armed with hand grenades as it battles with Iraqi forces in various parts of the country.

According to AFP, the commercially available drones are outfitted with equipment that can hold a hand grenade in place as the drone flies. The operator then disengages that equipment, which releases the grenade and simultaneously pulls the pin.

There have been three confirmed incidents of ISIS using drones with grenades, including one in which a grenade was dropped on a building where Iraqi forces were taking shelter during their advance on Mosul.

ISIS drones have been weaponized in other ways too. In one instance, an ISIS drone either crashed on its own or was shot down. A pair of Iraqi fighters found it and brought it to their camp, at which point it exploded.

The use of drones goes both ways, however. Iraqi forces have been using their own drones during the fighting in and around Mosul and have, according to AFP, spotted multiple car bombs with them.

Iraqi police Lt. Col. Hussein Moayyad told AFP the next thing he has to worry about is the potential of ISIS using chemical weapons on their drones.

A report last month detailed ISIS' use of drones that explode on impact, a 21st century version of Japanese kamikaze pilots.

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