Turkistan Islamic Party shows US-made machine gun, captured drone

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A fighter on the front lines is pictured with a Browning machine gun.

Correction: The article initially described the machine gun as a M2 Browning, but it is a 1919 Browning. The article has been updated to note this change.

The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), an al Qaeda-affiliated Uighur jihadist group, has released photos from the fighting in the Al Ghab plain in northwest Syria.

In one of the pictures, a Browning 1919 machine gun can be seen set up near the front lines of the fighting. It is unclear how the jihadist group obtained the weapon, but it may have been taken during fighting between the jihadists and US-support rebel groups. Al Nusrah Front, an official branch of al Qaeda, turned on two US-backed rebel groups in northern Syria last year.

However, the weapon also could have been provided by US-supported groups that are allied with the TIP and Al Nusrah. Rebel groups supplied by the US are fighting alongside jihadists in the area.

The Uighur al Qaeda group also claims to have captured a downed Syrian reconnaissance drone, which can be seen below.

For more information on the TIP’s role in the current fighting in northwestern Syria, see Threat Matrix report, Turkistan Islamic Party shows fighters on frontlines in northwestern Syria.

TIP photo showing the captured drone:

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Caleb Weiss is an editor of FDD's Long War Journal and a senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation, where he focuses on the spread of the Islamic State in Central Africa.

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8 Comments

  • that is not a M2 Browning ( which is .50 caliber, it is more like a Browning

    Model 1917 in .30 caliber ( 30.06 ) last used by the US military in the late 1950s

  • Sorry MOdel 1919 ,1917 was water cooled variant

  • Rex Becker says:

    The ‘captured drone’ is a little DJI Phantom 3 Professional available from store.dji.com for USD $1,259. It’s range is only 3.1 miles from the controller (unobstructed line of sight) and is armed with a camera. Max speed is only 16m/sec if there is no wind so an Islamist with a few rocks could bring one down.

  • Laura in BC says:

    The headline would have you believe its a sophisticated military drone in the hands of these jihadists and this is a story of great technical interest and fears
    This is a run of the mill commercially hobbyist available drone available to anyone with a credit card
    I believe that is the camera dangling on the bottom
    The drone is incomplete – notice several props of the quadcopter are missing
    Secondly there is no controller related to the device
    Supposing the new holders could buy the right props online and have them delivered they will need the controller device

  • Dennis says:

    Of course the Browning looks tight,…but the “drone” looks like it came from radio shack.

  • Yes the drone appears to be a standard Phantom Drone model
    Typically the stripes are a red colour
    In this case they are a gold or orange
    Perhaps its sun fade or customization for better camouflage
    Early models were approx $ 1000 US and had 8 minutes or less flying time with camera on
    The current model with camera ( Phantom 3) has approx 28 minutes flying time
    Phantom 3 Standard
    Special Price: USD $699
    Link is provided to the manufacture’s website itself for pricing proof source

  • chris says:

    Actually, it is a Browning M2 .50cal. There are several indicators of this. First is the size of the cartridges hanging from the feed port. These are clearly .50BMG and not .30-06 or 8mm. The spade grips are common to the .50cal series Brownings, but not in its smaller cousins. Additionally, the front and rear sights are those of the 50cal family. The .30 caliber versions featured a rear leaf site and a folding front site. The size of the buffer (the cylinder located between the spade grips) indicates of that this is an M2 .50 and not an M3.

  • Actually the markings ( and color of gold rather than older Phantom drone standard trim) indicate this is the most current version of the Phantom 3 – the Phantom “3” Drone
    These drones can use an iPhone iPad or Android devices as controllers for flight and FPV (First Person View) video stream for surveillance or scouting. Flight time 20 – 30 minutes approx :

    Full Specs:
    Weight (Including Battery And Propellers)

    1280 g
    Diagonal Size (Including Propellers)

    590 mm
    Max Ascent Speed

    5 m/s
    Max Descent Speed

    3 m/s
    Hover Accuracy

    Vertical: +/- 0.1 m (when Vision Positioning is active) or +/- 0.5 m
    Horizontal: +/- 1.5 m
    Max Speed

    16 m/s (ATTI mode, no wind)
    Max Service Ceiling Above Sea Level

    6000 m (Software altitude limit: 120 m above takeoff point)
    Operating Temperature

    0°C to 40°C
    GPS Mode

    GPS/GLONASS
    Camera
    Sensor

    Sony EXMOR 1/2.3” Effective pixels: 12.4 M (total pixels: 12.76 M)
    Lens

    FOV 94° 20 mm (35 mm format equivalent) f/2.8, focus at ∞
    ISO Range

    100-3200 (video) 100-1600 (photo)
    Shutter Speed

    8s -1/8000s
    Image Max Size

    4000 x 3000
    Still Photography Modes

    Single Shot
    Burst Shooting: 3/5/7 shots
    Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB): 3/5
    Bracketed Frames at 0.7EV Bias
    Time-lapse
    Video Recording Modes

    Phantom 3 Professional
    UHD: 4096x2160p 24/25, 3840x2160p 24/25/30
    FHD: 1920x1080p 24/25/30/48/50/60
    HD: 1280x720p 24/25/30/48/50/60
    Phantom 3 Advanced
    2.7K: 2704 x1520p 24/25/30 (29.97)
    FHD: 1920x1080p 24/25/30/48/50/60
    HD: 1280x720p 24/25/30/48/50/60
    Supported SD Card Types

    Micro SD
    Max capacity: 64 GB. Class 10 or UHS-1 rating required
    Max Bitrate Of Video Storage

    Phantom 3 Professional
    60 Mbps
    Phantom 3 Advanced
    40 Mbps
    Supported File Formats

    FAT32/exFAT
    Photo: JPEG, DNG
    Video: MP4, MOV (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264)
    Operating Temperature

    0°C to 40°C
    Gimbal
    Controllable Range

    Pitch -90° to +30°
    Stabilization

    3-axis (pitch, roll, yaw)
    Vision Positioning
    Max Velocity

    Less than 8 m/s (when 2 m above ground)
    Altitude Range

    50 cm-300 cm
    Operating Range

    50 cm-300 cm
    Operating Environment

    Surface with clear pattern and adequate lighting (Lux > 15)
    Remote Controller
    Operating Frequency

    2.400 GHz-2.483 GHz
    Max Distance

    Up to 5 km or 3.1 miles (unobstructed, free of interference) when FCC compliant
    Up to 3.5 km or 2.1 miles (unobstructed, free of interference) when CE compliant
    Video Output Port

    USB
    Operating Temperature

    0°C- 40°C
    Battery

    6000 mAh LiPo 2S
    Mobile Device Holder

    For tablet or phone
    Receiver Sensitivity (1%PER)

    -101 dBm ±2 dBm
    Transmitter Power (EIRP)

    FCC: 20 dBm
    CE: 16 dBm
    Working Voltage

    1.2 A @7.4 V
    Battery Charger
    Voltage

    17.4 V
    Rated Power

    Phantom 3 Professional
    100 W
    Phantom 3 Advanced
    57 W
    Intelligent Flight Battery
    Capacity

    4480 mAh
    Voltage

    15.2 V
    Battery Type

    LiPo 4S
    Energy

    68 Wh
    Net Weight

    365 g
    Max Flight Time

    Approximately 23 minutes
    Operating Temperature

    -10°C to 40°C
    Max Charging Power

    100 W
    App / Live View
    Mobile App

    DJI GO
    EIRP

    100mW
    Power Spectral Density

    6.9mW/MHz
    Live View Working Frequency

    2.4GHz ISM
    Live View Quality

    720P @ 30fps (depending on conditions and mobile device)
    Latency

    220ms (depending on conditions and mobile device)
    Required Operating Systems

    iOS 8.0 or later
    Android 4.1.2 or later
    Recommended Devices

    iOS: iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad Air Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 3, and iPad mini 3 Wi-Fi + Cellular. This app is optimized for iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus
    Android: Samsung tabs 705c, Samsung S6, Samsung S5, Samsung NOTE4, Samsung NOTE3, Google Nexus 9, Google Nexus 7 II, Ascend Mate7, Nubia Z7 mini, SONY Z3 EXPERIA, MI 3, MI PAD
    *Support for additional Android devices available as testing and development

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