ISIS Takes To The Air, Trains Members To Fly Captured Fighter Jets

In a sign that militants of the Islamic State group are evolving their tactics to further

A jet from the U.S.-led coalition flies in the sky over the Syrian town of Kobani as seen from a hill in Tal-Hajeb village that overlooks Kobani, October 7, 2014. Reuters/Stringer

intensify and widen attacks, officials of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reportedly said that ISIS is now training its cadre to fly fighter jets.

“They (Islamic State group) have trainers, Iraqi officers who were pilots before for Saddam Hussein,” Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the United Kingdom-based Observatory told Reuters, adding that the militant group is training its members to fly three fighter jets, reportedly captured from the Syrian military.

Rahman told Reuters that locals living in the region have reported seeing the planes take off from the al-Jarrah military airport east of the Syrian city of Aleppo. “They went up many times from the airport and they are flying in the skies outside the airport and coming back,” he reportedly said.

As of now, it is not clear whether the planes, which witnesses identified as MiG 21 or MiG 23 models, are equipped with weaponry, Reuters reported.

If confirmed, this would be the first instance where the Islamic State group, which is facing continuous airstrikes from a United States-led coalition, has taken to the air.

Meanwhile, coalition airstrikes in and around the Syrian border town of Kobani have helped Kurdish fighters push back militants of the Islamic State group, according to media reports. A Kurdish commander told BBC that ISIS had been driven out from most of the town and that it would be “liberated soon.”

In a statement released Thursday, the Observatory said that more than 650 people, including nearly 400 fighters of the Islamic State group, have been killed in Kobani in the last one month, adding that the actual death toll could be at least twice the number. 

Air Algérie flight AH5017 from Burkina Faso to Algeria disappears from radar

Air Algérie flight AH5017, thought to be carrying 110 passengers and six crew, disappears in early hours of Thursday morning.

A Swiftair MD-83 plane like the one that disappeared from radar on Thursday morning. Photograph: Reuters

A flight operated by Air Algérie carrying 116 people from Burkina Faso toAlgeria's capital disappeared from radar early on Thursday, the plane's owner said.

Air navigation services lost track of the Swiftair MD-83 about 50 minutes after takeoff from Ougadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, at 1.55am GMT the official Algerian news agency said. That means that flight AH5017 had been missing for hours before the news was made public.

The flight path of the plane from Ouagadougou to Algiers wasn't immediately clear. Ougadougou is in a nearly straight line south of Algiers, passing over Mali, where unrest continues in the north.

Swiftair, a private Spanish airline, said the plane carrying 110 passengers and six crew left Burkina Faso for Algiers at 1.17am GMT on Thursday but had not arrived at the scheduled time of 5.10am GMT.

Swiftair said it has not been possible to make contact with the plane. The company said it was trying to ascertain what had happened.

It said the crew included two pilots and four cabin staff. "In keeping with procedures, Air Algérie has launched its emergency plan," the APS news agency quoted the airline as saying.

Via: The Guardian

Cebu Pacific Air joins shark fin ban

The Philippines' largest airline Cebu Pacific said Wednesday it has ceased carrying shark fins,

Image by: WorldAirlinenews

becoming the latest carrier to impose a ban as part of global conservation efforts.

"We are banning shark fin carriage effective immediately as we learned that unsustainable shark fishing and our carriage of shark fin is not aligned with (our) position on sustainable development," the airline said in a statement.

The carrier, controlled by the Gokongwei family, an ethnic Chinese clan with interests in food processing, real estate and banking, also it would no longer serve shark fin soup in its corporate events.

Cebu Pacific, the country's largest airline in terms of number of passengers carried, becomes the second Filipino carrier to ban shark fin shipments following a similar decision by rival Philippine Airlines in April.

Several airlines have announced they would no longer transport shark fins in recent years, following a global campaign to stop the consumption of the controversial foodstuff.

The fins are traditionally used in expensive Chinese soups and served at important events.

Conservationists warn that the demand for shark fins has led to overfishing, with many shark species now considered endangered.

World's Top 5 Museum

5. British Museum, London

London's British Museum had a more than 20% increase in visitors in 2013, with nearly 6.7 million.

4. National Air and Space Museum

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington received almost 7 million visitors in 2013.

3. National Museum of China, Beijing

The National Museum of China in Beijing was the third most visited museum in the world in 2013, with nearly 7.5 million visitors. That represents a nearly 40% jump in attendance from 2012.

2. National Museum of Natural History

The National Museum of Natural History in Washington is the world's second most visited museum, with 8 million visitors in 2013.

1. Louvre, Paris

The Louvre in Paris is the world's most visited museum, with 9.3 million visitors in 2013.