Islamic State fighters used a high-flying surveillance drone to help plot their deadly capture of a key Syrian air base, according to a new video released by the terror group.
The propaganda video, posted on YouTube, features about 25 seconds of aerial footage shot above the military air field at Tabqa, and shows ISIS fighters planning to attack the installation that they overran on Sunday.
The footage emerged as Syria’s foreign minister touched off a war of words with the United States on Monday by warning that any American airstrikes launched against the Islamic State inside Syria without permission “will be considered as aggression.”
Obama administration officials fired back after Walid al-Moallem publicly demanded that “any effort to combat terrorism should be coordinated with the Syrian government.”
“We’re not looking for the approval of the Syrian regime,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest added, “The president has demonstrated a willingness on a number of occasions to take the action that’s necessary, to order the military action that’s necessary, to protect American citizens. And that is true without regard to international boundaries.”
In the drone video, the whirring sound of propellers can be heard as the camera rotates over different parts of the sprawling air base, which was the Syrian government’s last stronghold in the northern province of Raqqa.
Earlier in the video, a group of ISIS fighters is seen poring over a large map of the area as one militant traces out a route.
The insurgents are heard planning an attack, with one talking about “a truck opening the way so that a second suicide bomber can hit the headquarters,” according to the Vocativ website.
The nearly 14-minute video, posted Saturday to an Arab-language channel bearing the black-and-white flag of the Islamic State, contains grisly footage of an ISIS militant kicking a Syrian soldier’s severed head.
It also shows terrorists shooting two captive soldiers with their hands tied behind their backs, and gathering around a wounded soldier on the ground and repeatedly stabbing him.
On Sunday, the Islamic State overran Tabqa following several days of fierce fighting, with the Syrian government claiming that “our forces implemented a regrouping operation after the evacuation of the airbase,” according to the BBC.
With Wires