ISIS on the brink: UK special forces cripple jihadis’ communications in ‘black ops attack’

BRITISH special forces have waged electronic warfare against depraved Islamic State terrorists by cutting their communications in Libya.

A highly sophisticated “jamming strike” rendered the warped jihadi group’s communication network obsolete around their stronghold of Sirte on the Mediterranean coast.

Defence sources said the secretive mission was led by the crew of an RAF Rivet Joint spy plane, who used VHF and UHF transmitters to disrupt ISIS radio frequencies.

RAF radio experts disrupted the terror cell’s communications hub by tuning into the enemy’s preferred frequencies and using high-powered transmitters built into the aircraft to broadcast interference on the same wavelengths.

This drowned out the enemy’s conversations and meant they could not organise themselves during skirmishes on the battlefield.

It meant the terrorists could not communicate during heavy fighting, making them “very angry”, according to a source.

The source said: “They were very angry and couldn’t understand what had gone wrong. We jammed the frequencies for 40 minutes – long enough to prove the capability, but not so long that IS realised what was happening.

“All enemy communications including mobile phones and the internet are vulnerable to interception. It is best practice to monitor these means and gather information, then occasionally use jamming strikes to spread confusion among their ranks at vital times.

“There is a shortage of human sources within IS in Libya so whatever intelligence we can gather from listening to their conversations, the better.”

The devastating strike came as UK and Nato allies stepped up their support for an assault against IS by troops from Libya’s Government of National Accord.

Sources have also suggested that up to 50 troops from C Squadron and Special Boat Services are expected to deploy to Libya this week.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “We do not comment on Special Forces.”