US bans flights over Syria

AP, Washington :
Armed groups in Syria have several hundred portable anti-aircraft missiles that could easily be diverted to extremists and used to destroy commercial planes, according to a new report by an international arms research group that cites the risk of the missiles being smuggled out of Syria by terrorists.
The report was released a few hours after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a notice to US airlines banning all flights in Syrian airspace. The agency said armed extremists in Syria were “known to be equipped with a variety of anti-aircraft weapons that have the capability to threaten civilian aircraft”. The agency had previously warned against flights over Syria but had not prohibited them.
Most American and other commercial airlines already have halted flights over and into Syria during the past three years of conflict between the Assad government and insurgents. Citing the threat of missile strikes, the FAA warned American carriers in May 2013 to avoid Syrian airspace, and on Monday this was stepped up to a total ban.
“Opposition groups have successfully shot down Syrian military aircraft using these anti-aircraft weapon systems during the course of the conflict,” the FAA said in its “notice to airmen”.