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Isis captures Jordanian pilot after downing plane over Syria Isis fighters capture Jordanian pilot after plane came down over Syria
(35 minutes later)
Islamic State (Isis) fighters took a Jordanian pilot captive after his warplane was downed in north-eastern Syria on Wednesday, the first captive taken from the US-led coalition battling the jihadi group. Fighters of the Islamic State (Isis) in Syria have scored a major propaganda coup by capturing a Jordanian air force pilot whose plane came down on Wednesday during an air raid by the international coalition near the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto jihadi capital.
Jordan’s armed forces said one of its pilots had been captured after his plane fell during an air raid over the province of Raqqa. Images posted on social media showed jubilant Isis gunmen, some of them masked, with a clearly frightened man, naked from the waist down and being dragged out of a lake. He was identified as the downed pilot and named on Twitter, which displayed his military ID card, as First Lieutenant Muadh al-Kasasbeh, 26. The Jordanian military immediately described him as a “hostage”.
“Jordan holds the group [Isis] and its supporters responsible for the safety of the pilot and his life,” an army statement read on state television said. It did not say whether the plane was shot down. The F-16 was the first warplane lost since the US-led coalition began air strikes against Isis in Syria three months ago. The group said it had shot down the fighter jet with a heat-seeking missile. It was not immediately clear whether it had indeed been shot down or suffered a technical failure. Another image on social media showing the plane’s intact cockpit canopy suggested that the pilot might have ejected.
Isis social media accounts published pictures purportedly of the warplane’s pilot being held by the group’s fighters as well as images of what they said was his Jordanian military ID card. Hundreds of coalition air attacks have helped stem Isis advances – though more successfully in Iraq than in Syria, where they have been criticised for weakening more moderate rebel groups fighting President Bashar al-Assad.
The images were verified by two close relatives contacted by Reuters who said they had been notified by the head of the Jordanian air force the pilot was held captive. The Jordanian military issued a statement confirming the capture by Isis and saying it “holds the group and its supporters responsible for the safety of the pilot and his life”. It did not name him. “During a mission on Wednesday morning conducted by several Jordanian air force planes against hideouts of the IS terrorist organisation in the Raqqa region, one of the planes went down and the pilot was taken hostage,”, the Petra news agency quoted a source from the military’s general staff as saying. The Jordanian government went into emergency session to discuss its response.
One of the images showed the pilot in a white shirt being led out of the water by several armed fighters. Another showed him on land surrounded by at least a dozen fighters in military fatigues and equipped with assault rifles. The pilot’s father, Yousef al-Kasasbeh, appealed to Isis in an interview with a Jordanian website, Saraya, saying: “May Allah plant mercy in your hearts and may you release my son.” He also urged King Abdullah to bring him home.
Jordan is one of the countries participating in the US-led coalition set up to battle Isis and which has been bombing Isis targets in Syria since September. Jordan is one of four Arab countries – the others are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates – which have been taking part in coalition attacks. Qatar is providing logistical support. But Jordan is in an especially vulnerable position: it is the only one of what the US calls the Arab “partner nations” which borders on both Syria and Iraq. It has taken in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and there is sympathy and even support among Jordanian extremists for what is seen as an Isis fightback against Assad, Iran and Shia sectarianism.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have also participated in or supported the strikes against Isis targets in Syria, according to US Central Command. An estimated 2,000-2,500 Jordanians are known to be fighting with Isis – the third largest foreign Arab contingent after Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.
Raqqa province, which borders Turkey, is almost entirely under the control of Islamic State fighters. King Abdullah has been an enthusiastic participant in the coalition, describing an elemental struggle between Muslim moderation and jihadi extremism. Jordan’s much-vaunted intelligence service is thought to be playing an important clandestine role in the anti-Isis campaign. But the Jordanian government has not advertised its military involvement, perhaps fearing revenge attacks by Isis or a domestic backlash. The capture of the pilot and his obvious propaganda value to the jihadis may well now highlight the risks involved.
Boosted by arms seized in Iraq, the group evicted most rival rebels from the province earlier this year and took control of a string of government military bases over the summer, including an air base. Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and UK have joined the US in conducting air strikes on Isis in Iraq. The US and its four Arab allies, flying sorties in Syria, will all be concerned about any new Isis capability to bring down their planes
The US is also bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq, where the group has seized swaths of territory.