The Islamic State (IS) group captured a Jordanian pilot on Wednesday after his warplane from the US-led coalition crashed while on a mission against the militants, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), over Syria.
A senior Jordanian military official said the pilot was taken hostage by the “IS terrorist organization” in its northern stronghold region of Raqa.
Both the militants and activists reporting to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the plane was hit by an anti-aircraft missile, but the US military dismissed the claim, saying “evidence clearly suggests that ISIL did not down the aircraft.”
Photo: AFP
US Central Command, the body overseeing the coalition air war over Iraq and Syria, gave no reason for the “crash” and confirmed IS militants had taken the lost jet’s Jordanian pilot captive.
The crash was the first coalition warplane lost since air strikes on IS began in Syria in September and it marks a major propaganda victory for the Sunni extremist group.
Coalition warplanes have carried out regular strikes around Raqa, which IS has used as its de facto capital since declaring a “caliphate” in June straddling large parts of Iraq and Syria.
IS posted photographs online purportedly showing its fighters holding the pilot.
One showed a man being carried from a body of water by four gunmen. Another showed the same man on land, surrounded by almost a dozen militants.
A photograph was also released of the pilot’s military identification card, showing his name as Maaz al-Kassasbeh, his birth date as May 29, 1988, and his rank as first lieutenant.
The jihadists claimed to have shot down the warplane with a heat-seeking missile.
Images distributed by IS supporters of the alleged aftermath of the crash appeared to show the distinctive canopy of an F-16 fighter jet.
The pilot’s father, Youssef, was quoted by Jordanian media as saying the family had been informed by the air force of his capture.
He said the military promised it was “working to save his life” and that King Abdullah II of Jordan was following events.
An activist in Raqa said IS militants were divided over the fate of the pilot.
“The Chechens want him dead, but the Iraqis want to keep him alive,” Nael Mustafa said. “For some time, there have been divisions among them over who should be in command.”
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