Attack of the drones: IS 'airforce' stokes Western fears

Western extremists returning home from Iraq and Syria could carry out terror attacks using weaponised drones, experts have warned.

Islamic State group [IS] militants who have recently begun to use drones to drop grenade-sized munitions in battle could bring the technology to Europe and the United States to wreak havoc.

"Drones are portable, easy to buy from commercial stores and very attractive to terrorists," Mamoun Abu Nowar, a former general in the Jordanian Air Force and a media analyst of the Iraq War told The Washington Times on Wednesday.

"It is likely that we will see in the future use of these drones as weapons on crowds or high-value targets," Abu Nowar added.

Last month, IS released a video that revealed the use of advanced weaponised drones in the flashpoint Iraqi city of Mosul.

The footage filmed from the drones showed the unmanned aircraft as they dropped bomblets on Iraqi security forces.

"Give them a nightmare from above their heads to keep them sleepless and vexed with drone aircraft," the video's voiceover said.

Chief spokesman for the Combined Joint Task Force, John Dorrian, confirmed that IS has used drones in battle.

"The chief aim of the drone attacks is psychological," Dorrian said, adding: "We are not surprised by the use of drones because this is one of the few remaining courses of action available to the enemy."

Around a third of the estimated 5,000 European jihadists who went to Syria and Iraq have returned to Europe, and some may have orders to attack, an EU report warned last July.

Up to 2,500 fighters from Europe remained on the battlefield but their massive return in the short term seemed unlikely, the report said.

The report recalled that foreign fighters who have returned to Europe have staged both foiled and successful attacks, including the slaughter in Paris in November 2015 and the 2016 bombings in Brussels.

Both sets of attacks were claimed by IS, which is also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh.