Isil may have been behind Baghdad FlyDubai flight attack, analyst says

Baghdad International Airport, where a FlyDubai aircraft was hit by small-arms fire on its approach on January 26, 2015. Mohammed Ameen / Reuters

DUBAI // Civil aviation chiefs on Tuesday ordered UAE airlines to halt all flights to Baghdad after a passenger jet came under small-arms fire as it landed in the Iraqi capital.

The Iraqi ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be told of the UAE’s grave concern, amid fears that the FlyDubai plane may have been attacked by ISIL militants.

The undersecretary at the ministry, Mohammed Al Raisi, demanded that the Iraqi authorities launch a full investigation. Iraq must take measures to enforce international agreements on civil aviation safety and provide the required guarantees and protection, Mr Al Raisi told the ambassador, Muwaffaq Abboud.

The incident happened on Monday as FlyDubai flight FZ 215, with 154 passengers on board, made its approach to Baghdad airport, which is about 16 kilometres west of the city centre.

After the plane landed investigators found “damage to the aircraft fuselage consistent with small-arms fire”, the airline said yesterday.

No one was injured, passengers disembarked as usual and a replacement aircraft made the return flight to Dubai. “An investigation is under way to establish what happened,” FlyDubai said.

In response to the attack the General Civil Aviation Authority banned all flights to Baghdad and FlyDubai, Emirates and Etihad Airways immediately complied. Emirates’ other services to Iraq, to Erbil and Basra, would continue as normal, a spokesman said.

Theodore Karasik, a defence expert at Risk Insurance Management in Dubai, said it could be weeks before Baghdad International Airport was secure enough for flights to resume.

“We don’t know for sure but the attack may be linked to Daesh or their sympathisers in some way,” he said.

“In Iraq there is continuing fighting between Daesh and Iraqi forces, and there have been reports that the militants have been driven out of Kobani. This attack may be a response to that.” Isil had a presence in the Iraqi capital but it was also possible that the shots were fired by someone unrelated to the terror group, he said.

“It is deeply worrying that someone could get close enough to the airport to be able to hit a passenger jet with small-arms fire,” said Mr Karasik.

“I think it could take weeks before the situation there is secure enough to allow for passenger jets to return.

“The big concern for me is that this attack could encourage copycats to try their luck at shooting down an airliner.”

He said the incident also raised concerns about the safety of other airports in Iraq.

“We know that there have been attacks on civilian aircraft elsewhere in the region, like Libya, so this might lead to further attacks elsewhere in Iraq.”