The Da’esh (ISIS) terror group has somehow acquired flight simulators, captured fighter jets and is now starting to train pilots to fly them at an air base in Libya, according to numerous reports.
The group has allegedly acquired two flight simulators “the size of a small car” — one from a civilian plane and the other, that of a fighter jet, according to the London-based A-Sharq al-Awsat. The information was confirmed to the paper in an interview with a senior Libyan military officer in Cairo.
The terror organization is “now actively training its jihadis on it to fly flighter jets” at an air base in Sirte, the hometown of former Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, who was murdered in custody in 2011.
Nor is the group lacking in aircraft with which to begin to equip its fledgling air force: Da’esh has already managed to capture a number of fighter jets in Iraq and Syria.
Given these elements, Da’esh terrorist pilots could conceivably hijack planes and then crash them into high-value targets as did Al Qaeda on Sept. 11, 2001, or simply take to the skies in their own ISIS air force, perhaps to attack other targets. The group has felt no compunction about destroying any treasured site that might hold value to any society, be it religious or cultural, thus far. Moreover, Da’esh also appears to be escalating the caliber of its actions with each new attack.
At present, there are an estimated 3,000 Da’esh terrorists in Libya, a United Nations committee said in a report submitted to the U.S. Security Council and released to the public last week.
“Since 2013, the country has experienced several waves of Libyan returnees, which also formed the backbone of the newly established ISIL (ISIS -ed.) in Libya. In addition, the country continues to attract foreign terrorist fighters in significant numbers from North Africa. While currently concentrated in its stronghold in Sirte, ISIL could seek local alliances to expand its territorial control, also entailing the risk of motivating additional foreign terrorist fighters to join the group in Libya,” the committee reported in the executive summary.
Libya borders Tunisia and during the Arab Spring, Libyan rebel fighters flowed back and forth across the border, as did female Qaddafi family members who were fleeing the fighting.
During these times, members of the ancient Jewish communities of Djerba and Tunis prudently maintained a particularly low profile, often with assistance from longtime Gentile friends and neighbors, in order to increase their chances of staying alive through the storm.
It is not clear how the Tunisian Jewish community will be impacted by the growth of Da’esh next door, now spreading its tentacles throughout a nation that has never managed to achieve any stability since Qadaffi was toppled.
It is perfectly clear, however, that the world will be an infinitely more dangerous place if Da’esh succeeds in its bid to build a terrorist air force and if its success in achieving mastery of chemical and biological warfare is not sabotaged as soon as possible.