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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Islamic State 'shoots down coalition plane in Syria' | Islamic State 'shoots down coalition plane in Syria' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Islamic State (IS) militants have shot down a US-led coalition warplane over northern Syria, activists say. | Islamic State (IS) militants have shot down a US-led coalition warplane over northern Syria, activists say. |
| The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the aircraft, believed to be from an Arab state, went down near Raqqa. | The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the aircraft, believed to be from an Arab state, went down near Raqqa. |
| The UK-based group said the fate of the pilot was unknown, but IS supporters published photos they said showed a Jordanian airman surrounded by gunmen. | The UK-based group said the fate of the pilot was unknown, but IS supporters published photos they said showed a Jordanian airman surrounded by gunmen. |
| Jordan is one of four Arab countries whose aircraft have been bombing IS positions in Syria since September. | Jordan is one of four Arab countries whose aircraft have been bombing IS positions in Syria since September. |
| The Jordanian authorities have so far not commented on the incident. | |
| 'Heat-seeking missile' | |
| The Syrian Observatory said it had received reports from its network of activists that IS members had taken "an Arab pilot prisoner after shooting his plane down with an anti-aircraft missile near the city of Raqqa". | |
| Earlier, a pro-IS activist group in Raqqa posted photos on Facebook purportedly showing armed men holding the captured pilot, with a caption identifying him as Jordanian and giving his name and rank. | |
| He had a bloodied mouth and was wearing only a T-shirt and underwear. | |
| It was not possible to verify the images. | |
| The jihadist group claimed to have shot down the coalition warplane with a heat-seeking missile. | |
| The air forces of Jordan, the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain have carried out hundreds of air strikes on IS in Syria in the past three months. | |
| Many of the targets have been in and around Raqqa, which is the de facto capital of the "caliphate" whose creation IS proclaimed in June. | |
| Syrian government warplanes also regularly bomb Raqqa and the surrounding province. On Tuesday, an air strike killed more than 20 people, according to the Syrian Observatory. | |
| Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and UK have joined the US in conducting air strikes on IS in neighbouring Iraq. |