Russian Spetsnaz troops used a robotic system equipped with a heavy weapon to neutralize a tier-one ISIS target.
A man known as Rustam Aselderov was cornered inside a house in the city of Makhachkala, sited on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. Russian troops surrounded the compound and poured fire around the perimeter before sending in the armed robot.
The droid fired a volley of high-caliber rounds into the building, reportedly obliterating the target and four of his associates also holed up inside.
Aselderov was a high-ranking official in the ISIS leadership, and had been linked to several terrorist attacks in the Russian city of Volgograd and other locations around the Dagestan region. The Russian Government had previously offered a reward for any information regarding the man’s whereabouts. Aselderov was also on the Specially Designated Global Terrorist list.
The use of battlefield robotics has seen a recent upsurge, as technological advances have made it possible to equip drones and other remotely-controlled devices with deadly weaponry.
US forces have used drones extensively to carry out pinpoint strikes. On November 12 2015, for instance, the well-known ISIS executioner ‘Jihadi John’ (real name Mohammed Emwazi) was killed in a highly publicized surgical strike carried out by a US drone in Al-Raqqah, Syria.