Fears ISIS could use drones for terror bombings in Britain as Government reveals they do same in Syria and Iraq
Ex-security minister Admiral Lord West says it would be 'even easier' to use the toys as weapons here than the Middle East
TWISTED IS jihadis have begun using off-the-shelf drones to carry makeshift bombs – sparking fears they will be used to attack Britain.
Foreign Office minister Baroness Anelay said there was growing proof that Daesh militants are converting the popular toys into weapons in their Middle East heartlands.
A NATO chemical weapons expert also claimed the killer drones could be fitted with World War I mustard gas.
She said: “The Government has evidence that Daesh has used small, commercially available unmanned aerial vehicles in Syria and Iraq to extend their surveillance capability, produce propaganda material and carry small improvised explosive devices.”
It triggered calls for tough new controls on drones which are widely available on the High Street – such as automatic “off switches” if they approach key landmarks or sensitive sites.
Admiral Lord West, former head of the Navy and ex-security minister warned that without extra curbs militants could use them to launch an attack here.
He said: “If they are using them there, then in fact they are probably even easier to use them here because you can get them so much easier.
Related stories
“Daesh is like water at the top of a building, it spreads across and tries to find little gaps it can run through.
“This will be one of the little gaps it is looking at.
“I think it would be foolhardy for us not to look to our defences for this.”
Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former NATO head of chemical and biological weapons, told The Daily Mail that the hi-tech flying machines could be fitted with brutally old fashioned weapons.
"These types of drones could carry up to 5kg so a bomb that size could kill a few people," he said.
"They could also put a chlorine or a mustard gas agent on it."
The Department for Transport is talking to manufacturers about the use of so-called “geo-fencing” technology in their drones, which automatically stops them working in some areas.
Ministers are also examining the possibility of introducing a drone registration scheme in the UK, similar to the ones already in place in Ireland and the US.