Islamic State may be working on Google-style driverless cars for mass attacks

Technicians from the terror outfit, the Islamic State, are reportedly working to develop a Google-style driverless car, which will navigate itself into a crowded area to detonate explosives, a NATO security expert has warned.

The Islamic State's research and development department in Raqqa is believed to be producing the vehicles - even as tech giant Google attempts to perfect the technology.

If successful, the invention could prove to be a major headache for security services in Britain and throughout Europe and North America, where self-driving cars are expected to become commonplace, Daily Express reported.

Thousands of driverless cars are expected to be on Britain's roads within the next few years and there is a very real prospect that the Islamic State could use the technology to launch attacks in the UK.

Jamie Shea, NATO's deputy assistant secretary general for emerging security threats, said the terrorists were using their bomb making factory in Raqqa to develop the technology.

He said the Islamic State was using its "technical expertise" to "play around" with driverless cars in a "worrying" development. Mr Shea said: "We are focusing very much on...Raqqa at the moment, where Islamic State has its bomb making factory."

"It is not just Google that is producing the autonomous car, the Islamic State is also trying to do the same," he said.

The FBI has long argued that autonomous cars could be used by criminals as lethal weapons.

The technology would remove the need for suicide bombers and could help the terror outfit cope with the dramatic drop in its numbers, which has seen its fighting force cut almost in half.

-With PTI inputs