Moscow, June 09: Under pressure from Russia, the defence ministers of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) today decided to tighten control over export-import of stinger type portable anti-aircraft missiles "Strela" and "Igla" to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists. The decision to tighten control on Strela (arrow) and Igla (needle) missiles was taken at a meeting of CIS defence ministers' meeting in Kazakh town of Schuchinsk, according to state-run Mayak Radio.

Urging his CIS colleagues to tighten control on the movement of shoulder-launched portable anti-aircraft missiles across their porous borders, Russian defence minister Sergei Ivanov said that the recent G-8 Evian summit has also decided to monitor the movement of these deadly weapons at a global scale as part of the anti-terror campaign.
In the course of Chechnya war militants have widely used portable missiles to down Federal Army aircraft, which Moscow believes were obtained from Soviet era stockpiles in the CIS countries.

Last October a heavy Russian helicopter ferrying troops was downed by such missile near Chechen capital Grozny killing over 70 people.

Bureau Report