National Security

Former Iraqi pilots train IS fighters on MiG jets

By Diaa Hadid

Published October 17, 2014 7:08pm ET

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Former Iraqi pilots train IS fighters on MiG jets — FILE - This undated image posted on Aug. 27, 2014 by the Raqqa Media Center of the Islamic State group, a Syrian opposition group, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows fighters of the Islamic State group waving the group's flag from a damaged display of a government fighter jet following the battle for the Tabqa air base, in Raqqa, Syria. The Islamic State group is test flying, with the help of former Iraqi air force pilots, several fighter jets captured earlier from air bases belonging to the Syrian military, a Syrian activist group said Friday, Oct. 17, 2014. The report by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights could not be independently confirmed, and U.S. official said they had no reports of Islamic State group militants flying jets in support of their forces on the ground.(AP Photo/ Raqqa Media Center of the Islamic State group) | Uncredited

BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group is test flying, with the help of former Iraqi air force pilots, several fighter jets captured earlier from air bases belonging to the Syrian military, a Syrian activist group said Friday.

The report by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights could not be independently confirmed, and U.S. official said they had no reports of IS militants flying jets in support of their forces on the ground.

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