The Iraqi army is returning serve on ISIS.
Soldiers advancing on Mosul have taken a page from the jihadists’ playbook by launching shuttlecock grenades a la badminton from drones.
The traditional feathered tails are affixed to the explosive devices to keep them balanced on their way to their targets, the Daily Mail reported.
The extremists have used the ingenious tactic in their attacks on US-led coalition forces, which are fighting to retake the ISIS stronghold in Iraq.
“Residents would stare at the sky during the Mosul fighting, fearing ISIS drones,” federal police Col. Hussein Muayad said. “Now it’s the enemy whose eyes never leave the sky. They used to hit us once, but we can hit them up to four times with a single drone.”
The Iraqi forces battling for west Mosul are now equipping their own remote-controlled drones with 40mm grenades, rather than shooting them from grenade launchers.
“Dozens of terrorists have been killed and wounded. Jihadist movements have been paralyzed,” said Lt. Gen. Raed Shaker Jawdat of the federal police, who are fighting alongside special forces.
The grenades, which appear to be dressed in skirts, remain well balanced along their trajectory while live footage from the drones is beamed back to commanders, Muayad said.
“West Mosul is very populated. The roads are very narrow,” Muayad said. “The point with these drones is to have very precise strikes to target the terrorists, not the residents. Day and night, there are always 12 drones in the air, ready to strike.”
Inside a battle-scarred courtyard in a neighborhood recently recaptured from ISIS, Capt. Baraa Mohammed Jassem of the Rapid Response Division said his elite force has “perfected” its drones.
“We took the … idea from the Daesh terrorist organization,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. “With a night drone, we found and carried out a strike on a group of eight jihadists, hitting them directly.”