IG Vladimir Putin’s ‘Blazing Sun’ flamethrower missile launcher will be mobilised

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Vladimir Putin's 'Blazing Sun' flamethrower missile launcher will be mobilised as part of the increasingly savage battle to destroy ISIS terrorists waging war in Syria. The mobile killing machine features thermobaric weapons that are capable of destroying as many as eight tower blocks in one strike. Thermobaric warheads, which shoot flammable liquid around a target before igniting the air, are thought to have arrived in Syria last month.

But the multiple rocket launcher, also known as TOS-1A, can cause indiscriminate damage and Western observers fear it could lead to mass civilian casualties. Blazing Sun can fire up to 30 missiles in one go and is also equipped with a flamethrower that shoots a jet of fire metres into the air. One journalist who has witnessed the use of the Blazing Sun missile launcher said: "The results are devastating. Not only is the explosion significantly longer and the shockwave significantly hotter and stronger than a conventional warhead, but all the oxygen in the near vicinity is also consumed, creating a partial vacuum."

IG Thermobaric warheads are thought to have arrived in Syria last month

IG Blazing Sun can fire up to 30 missiles in one go

The high-intensity flamethrower weapon was first used during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1988 but didn't make its public debut until more than a decade later, during the Second Chechen War in 1999. A report by the CIA described the effect of a thermobaric weapon on targets in confined spaces, such as buildings, bunkers and tunnels, as "immense". It said: "Those near the ignition point are obliterated. Those at the fringe are likely to suffer many internal, and thus invisible injuries, including burst eardrums and crushed inner ear organs, severe concussions, ruptured lungs and internal organs, and possibly blindness."

As the fighting intensifies in Syria, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Kemal Aydin revealed Russian and Turkish planes have had 13 dangerous encounters in the week until October 10. In a recent offensive, Russian fighter jets hit 40 ISIS targets - destroying training camps and ammunition depots.

A foreign ministry spokesman said: "From the Hmeimim air base, the crews of Su-34, Su-24M and Su-25SM warplanes carried out 41 sorties against 40 targets of the Islamic State's terrorist infrastructure in Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama and Deir Ezzor." It comes as President Barack Obama today abandoned his pledge to end America's longest war, announcing plans to keep at least 5,500 US troops in Afghanistan when he leaves office in 2017. Under the new £9.7billion-a-year plan, the US will maintain its current force of 9,800 through most of 2016, then begin drawing down to 5,500 late in the year or in early 2017.

REUTERS ‘Blazing Sun’ flamethrower missile launcher