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'IS responsible for pilot's safety'
(MENAFN- Arab News) AMMAN: Islamic State fighters took a Jordanian pilot captive after his warplane came down in northeast Syria on Wednesday the first captive taken from the US-led coalition battling the jihadi group.
Jordan's armed forces said one of its pilots had been captured after a coalition air raid over the province of Raqqa. 'Jordan holds the group (IS) and its supporters responsible for the safety of the pilot and his life' a statement read on state television said. It did not say whether the plane had been shot down but said it had crashed during a Jordanian air force 'military mission against the hideouts of the terrorist group.'
US officials said no US aircraft or personnel had been involved in the incident and the cause of the crash was unknown.
The Jordanian statement described Islamic State as a 'group that does not conceal its terrorist plots committing many criminal acts from wanton destruction to killing innocent Muslims and non-Muslims in Syria and Iraq.'
Islamic State social media published pictures appearing to show the pilot being held by the group's fighters and images of what they said was his Jordanian military ID card.
The images were verified by two relatives contacted by Reuters who said they had been notified by the head of the Jordanian air force the pilot was First Lt. Muath Al-Kasaesbeh aged 27. The army separately confirmed his name.
A friend said Kasaesbeh who is from a prominent Jordanian family was fervent in his commitment to his mission and felt it was a religious duty to fight extremist groups such as Islamic State that were 'distorting the true spirit of Islam.'
One of the published images showed the pilot wearing a white shirt being led out of water by armed fighters. Another showed him on land surrounded by at least a dozen fighters in military fatigues and equipped with assault rifles.
Raqqa province which borders Turkey is almost entirely under the control of Islamic State fighters.
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.
Jordan's armed forces said one of its pilots had been captured after a coalition air raid over the province of Raqqa. 'Jordan holds the group (IS) and its supporters responsible for the safety of the pilot and his life' a statement read on state television said. It did not say whether the plane had been shot down but said it had crashed during a Jordanian air force 'military mission against the hideouts of the terrorist group.'
US officials said no US aircraft or personnel had been involved in the incident and the cause of the crash was unknown.
The Jordanian statement described Islamic State as a 'group that does not conceal its terrorist plots committing many criminal acts from wanton destruction to killing innocent Muslims and non-Muslims in Syria and Iraq.'
Islamic State social media published pictures appearing to show the pilot being held by the group's fighters and images of what they said was his Jordanian military ID card.
The images were verified by two relatives contacted by Reuters who said they had been notified by the head of the Jordanian air force the pilot was First Lt. Muath Al-Kasaesbeh aged 27. The army separately confirmed his name.
A friend said Kasaesbeh who is from a prominent Jordanian family was fervent in his commitment to his mission and felt it was a religious duty to fight extremist groups such as Islamic State that were 'distorting the true spirit of Islam.'
One of the published images showed the pilot wearing a white shirt being led out of water by armed fighters. Another showed him on land surrounded by at least a dozen fighters in military fatigues and equipped with assault rifles.
Raqqa province which borders Turkey is almost entirely under the control of Islamic State fighters.
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.
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