14 20,000 feet below, on the Syrian plain, was a solitary Toyota Hilux. In it, dressed in desert camo or attired head-to-toe in black, were five Islamic State fighters. They were armed with brand-new Chinese assault rifles. The weapons were the spoils from a successful raid on an air force base at Tabqa in the province of Raqqa. One of the five was fussing over a grey cylinder that could have been a length of plumbing. Except, it wasn’t. Near one end was a boxy attachment and a rubberised grip.
Since their introduction by the Russians and Americans in the 1960s and 1970s, Man Portable Air Defence Systems — MANPADs — are a source of constant worry to militaries, law enforcement agencies and governments. They are portable, easy to disassemble and reassemble. This makes for easy smuggling. T
