Russia to deploy world's most powerful sniper rifle in Syria capable of killing jihadi target 2 MILES away

The Russian military is set to unveil its newest secret weapon after developing a powerful sniper rifle that can wipe out targets more than TWO MILES away.

The SVLK-14 Sumrak Twilight gun can fire a bullet 1.86 miles – but now the manufacturers have bolted on a longer barrel and are using a heavier bullet to significantly extend the range.

It comes as a gunman dubbed the 'Sniper of Mosul' picks off ISIS patrols as the jihadi group's grasp on Mosul slips.

ISIS is understood to have suffered heavy losses with a sniper, or a group of snipers, helping to rally local support.

The secret new weapon is being developed by Lobaev Arms in the western Russian town of Tarusa.

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Company boss Nikolay Lobaev said: "Last year we successfully shot a target 3,400 meters (3,718 yards) away.

“Since then, we have implemented a number of innovations including making the barrel longer and the bullet slightly heavier. Hopefully, this year we will be able to set a new record."

The team is now hoping to hit a



target 4,200 meters away with the SVLK-14 Sumrak – which costs up to £26,200.

It could be used by the Sniper of Mosul, who has struck in four different residential neighborhoods with Al Sumaria News claiming ISIS patrols were targeted.

It said: “The emergence of the ‘Sniper of Mosul’, as the residents call him, increased the pace of the popular resistance against the ISIS.

“The presence of the sniper in four neighborhoods emphasizes that there are many snipers and not only one.”

Some reports suggest the snipers may be part of special forces squadrons but it is unclear whether they are Iraqi or allied soldiers.

The news channel has also claimed that 'rebellious youths' had begun forming squadrons and joining in the fight, using their previous experience of military exercises to battle ISIS

Iraqi and coalition forces have achieved faster progress than expected in the Battle for Mosul , with over 100 families now liberated from the ISIS stronghold.

Brigadier-General Yahya Rasool, a spokesman for the Joint Operations Command, said their forces have retaken dozens of villages and hundreds of kilometers of land from IS.