Shropshire-based troops targeted by drones in Afghanistan

Dozens of drones have been sent over a base which is home to UK and US soldiers, including members of the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment, carrying out a security mission in the capital Kabul.

So far the drones, of the type that can be bought easily online, have only been used to spy on the troops.

But it is feared they could be adapted to carry explosives – a tactic already being used by Islamic State in Iraq.

Troops are being protected by a new weapon that uses radio waves to zap the unmanned aircraft out of the sky.

When the drones in Afghanistan are spotted over the New Kabul Compound they are disabled by US soldiers using the AR-15 Drone Defender, which looks like a rifle with an antenna mechanism to the front and has a range of more than 1,300ft.

Instead of firing bullets, its radio waves disrupt the signal controlling the drones, forcing them to fall to the ground.

Major Paul Martin, of the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment which is based at Tern Hill, near Market Drayton, said there had been 68 drone sightings in the past two years over the Kabul compound where a total of 150 British troops are based.

It is not clear, however, if the drones are being sent by civilians or insurgents.

The regiment’s commanding officer, Lt Col Graham Shannon, said: "They could be rich kids or they could be the bad guys."

There are several Drone Defenders on the base which US soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division are trained to use.

UK troops have other defence mechanisms but were not able to share the details for security reasons.

Sergeant Major David Dyess, a US marine on the base, said in reference to Islamic State’s use of drones in Iraq: "It starts in one place and eventually migrates. Drones with bombs will be coming here in the next couple of months."

Major Paddy Pratt, the UK chief of operations for the Kabul Security Force, said: "We’ve had multiple sightings of drones and we’ve developed a counter drone strategy. If and when there is a sighting they would then deploy the Defender to try to engage the drone."

He added: "They are readily available across the world. We are aware of it, we are well equipped to be able to counter it.

"There is a suggestion it could be the enemy, or it could be grown men who receive the drone as a present."

Islamic State started using camera drones armed with grenades in Iraq to blast Iraqi forces and target refugees trying to flee Mosul.

The drones carry enough explosive to kill or injure within a 16ft radius, according to experts.

RAF pilots were tasked with hunting down the weaponised devices amid fears they could be used to find the locations of UK troops and target them.