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Al-Qaeda Has Surface-to-Air Missiles
(Independent-UK) Bill Law - Al-Qaeda has acquired sophisticated Russian-made SA-7, shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles, which were used to shoot down a French-made Mirage in the UAE's air force in Yemen. The incident raises the specter of other jihadist branches accessing sophisticated surface-to-air missiles in Syria, Iraq and further afield. A source said that "cooperative army officers" were making it easy for the jihadists to get weapons, many of them supplied by the Americans to the Yemeni army during the presidency of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was forced out in 2012. Al-Qaeda has made significant territorial gains in south Yemen, while the Saudi coalition attempts to quell the Houthi uprising have thus far met with little success.