Islamic State, al Qaeda using Facebook to buy weapons: Report

One post on the page shows an AGS-17 Soviet-Era grenade launcher available for 3,800 dollar. One of the messages reads: “Quick friends, I need a gun with a silencer.” The page also hosts an advert for a TOW missile launcher, which the seller claims comes from “The US Pentagon”.

The terror groups active in Syria are using social media platforms like Facebook to buy and sell heavy weapons, guns and ammunition, according to UK media reports.

An Islamic State fighter holds group’s flag and a gun on a street in Mosul. (REUTERS File Photo)

Islamic State (IS) and al Qaeda could also use Facebook to buy an anti-aircraft rocket launcher capable of blowing a passenger jet out of the sky, ‘Daily Mirror’ reported on Thursday.

It is being sold for 67,000 dollar on the page called ‘The First Weapons Market in Idlib (Syria) Countryside’.

Although the sellers are Syrian rebels, the nature of the conflict in the war zone means the weapon could easily fall into IS hands, the newspaper said.

One post on the page shows an AGS-17 Soviet-Era grenade launcher available for 3,800 dollar. One of the messages reads: “Quick friends, I need a gun with a silencer.” The page also hosts an advert for a TOW missile launcher, which the seller claims comes from “The US Pentagon”.

TOW missiles have been controversially supplied by the CIA to selected rebel groups in Syria and Iraq since the civil war erupted in 2011.

Youssef Yassim, an IS supporter from Idlib, is seen posing with an IS flag in his profile and is using the Facebook page to buy a “thermal camera” – used for hunting at night.