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The US investigates the origin of a series of Toyota cars in the hands of IS 0
IS rebels used Toyota vehicles to march in Raqqa city, Syria, September 2014.
Islamic State (IS) propaganda videos show the rebel group patrolling the streets of Syria in Toyota Hilux pickup models, both old and new, and many long convoys of Toyota Land Cruisers moving in
About two-thirds of the vehicles used by IS rebels marching through the city center of Raqqa, Syria, resemble familiar white Toyota models.
`Regrettably, the Toyota Land Cruiser and Hilux have almost become part of the IS name,` ABC News quoted Mark Wallace, former US ambassador to the United Nations, as saying.
According to Mr. Wallace, IS has used many means in military operations and terrorist activities.
AFP said Toyota pickup trucks, as well as those of Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Isuzu, are very popular with rebels, armed groups and insurgents because of their reasonable cost, good adaptability and high durability.
The BBC’s Top Gear program once tried to destroy a Toyota pickup truck by burning it, using iron balls to destroy it, and even placing it on the roof of a building and then exploding it.
Toyota said many of the vehicles in the video are not recent models.
Iraqi Ambassador to the US Lukman Faily said that in addition to repurposing old trucks, IS has also obtained `hundreds` of `new` Toyota vehicles in recent years.
Suspicion of IS using Toyota vehicles has been around for several years.
According to sales data from Toyota, the number of Hilux and Land Cruiser cars sold in Iraq increased from 6,000 units in 2011 to 18,000 units in 2013, then decreased to 13,000 units the following year.
Toyota today announced its willingness to cooperate with the US to investigate how IS came to own many of its vehicles.