Islamic State militants are learning to fly MiG aircrafts

Islamic State militants are now learning to fly fighter aircrafts bbc.com – this has been made possible by Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State and who are now training its members in Syria to fly fighter aircraft.

According to a UK-based activist group that monitors the conflict, it seems the IS has got three aircraft and witnesses had seen the planes being flown around a military airport in Aleppo.
Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the SOHR, has revealed that the IS was using Iraqi officers who were pilots under ex-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to train fighters in Syria.
The number of pilots who have defected is not known but, as per witnesses, the planes appeared to be MiG-21 or MiG-23 models. The IS has three planes which it captured earlier from the Syrian military in Aleppo and Raqqa.

However, the US Central Command spokesman has indicated that the Pentagon was "not aware" of IS conducting any flight operations in Syria or elsewhere.