Pentagon: IS seized weapons, missile system in Palmyra

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Islamic State militants may be in possession of a ground-based missile defense system and other heavy equipment belonging to the Syrian and Russian military, a top U.S. commander said Wednesday.

During a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend disclosed that militants returned to the historic city of Palmyra last weekend after a major offensive and seized equipment left behind by fleeing Syrian government troops.

Some of the compromised equipment might include a SA-3 surface-to-air missile system, armored vehicles and a number of firearms. The Soviet-era dual-stage missiles, formally called S-125 Neva/Pechora, were developed during the Cold War and introduced in the 1960s. The missiles can reach speeds over Mach 3, are effective against mobile targets, and are somewhat resistant to electronic countermeasures.

Moscow supplied the C-125 systems to multiple Arab states, including Syria, in the 1960s and 1970s.

Townsend, the commander of Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, said the newly acquired weapons could give insurgents an added edge against coalition forces.

"Anything they seized poses a threat to the coalition," he said.

The government wrested Palmyra from Islamic State control last year after months of violence, but officials said regime troops were literally chased out of the central Syria city on Sunday -- so quickly that they abandoned the equipment on their way out.

U.S.-led coalition forces, Russia's military and Syrian troops have been fighting Islamic State advances in the battle-scarred country for more than a year.

Townsend said Wednesday that Palmyra was retaken because Russian and Syrian fighters dropped the ball -- perhaps by focusing too much on the battles in Aleppo. He also emphasized that U.S. forces will neutralize and destroy the appropriated equipment if Russia and Syria don't.

Islamic State news outlet Amaq posted images of the abandoned equipment this week, but military officials said they aren't sure whether the insurgents know how to operate some of it, particularly the missile system.

The terror group claimed it recovered a large cache of weapons and armored equipment, but analysts aren't certain how much they truly got their hands on -- believing some of the claims may be inflated for propaganda purposes.