35 Islamic State fighters said killed in Jordanian airstrikes
Hashemite Kingdom steps up raids against jihadists in Mosul after pilot burned alive
By Times of Israel staff and AFP February 6, 2015, 10:11 am 5
Some 35 jihadists were killed as Jordan launched fresh airstrikes against the Islamic State overnight Thursday-Friday, Sky News Arabia reported.
The deadly raids were carried out near Mosul in Iraq, local sources said, and came after the Hashemite Kingdom vowed a harsh response to the burning alive of a pilot captured in Syria.
On Thursday, Jordan confirmed its warplanes launched dozens of new strikes against the Islamic State group. Jordan’s military said “dozens of jet fighters” struck IS targets on Thursday morning, “hitting training camps of the terrorist groups as well as weapons and ammunition warehouses.” It did not say where the targets were located — IS holds swaths of Syria and Iraq — but said they were destroyed and the aircraft returned home safely.
American F-16 and F-22 jets provided security to the Jordanian fighter planes, with additional support from refueling tankers and surveillance aircraft, US officials said.
Washington has also deployed aircraft and troops to northern Iraq to boost capabilities to rescue downed pilots fighting with the international coalition that is battling IS, a US defense official told AFP.
The Islamic State has released a highly choreographed video of the horrifying murder of pilot Mu’ath al-Kaseasbeh, whose death has sparked grief and deep anger in Jordan.
Jordan’s military has pledged to “destroy this terrorist group and kill the evil in its own place,” saying it would punish IS for the “heinous act” of burning him alive.
King Abdullah II visited the airman’s family — who have urged the government to “destroy” the jihadists — to pay his condolences.
Jordan has conducted regular raids against IS across the border in Syria as part of a US-led campaign against the Sunni extremist group.
More than 200,000 people have died since anti-government protests erupted in Syria in early 2011, escalating into a multisided civil war that brought jihadists streaming into the country.
At least 66 people, including 12 children, were killed by regime airstrikes and shelling on rebel areas around Damascus Thursday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The assault on the Eastern Ghouta region came after rebels fired more than 100 rockets at the city, killing 10 people, including a child, the Britain-based group said.
The gruesome murder of Mu’ath al-Kaseasbeh, captured by IS in December after his F-16 crashed in Syria, has increased support in Jordan for stepped-up military action against the jihadists.
“Jordan will wage all-out war to protect our principles and values,” government newspaper al-Rai wrote in an editorial.
The execution has sparked outrage in Jordan and protests in Amman and Karak, bastion of Kaseasbeh’s influential tribe.
Solidarity demonstrations with the family are planned, nationwide, after Friday’s weekly Muslim prayers.
Abdullah cut short a US visit and returned to Amman Wednesday after the video of Kaseasbeh’s killing emerged.
This still image made from a video released by Islamic State group militants and posted on the website of the SITE Intelligence Group on February 3, 2015, purportedly shows Jordanian pilot Lt. Mu’ath al-Kaseasbeh standing in a cage just before being burned to death by his captors. (photo credit: AP/SITE Intelligence Group)
“The blood of martyr Mu’ath al-Kaseasbeh will not be in vain and the response of Jordan and its army after what happened to our dear son will be severe,” he said afterwards.
On Wednesday, in response, Jordan executed two Iraqis on death row — female would-be suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi and al-Qaeda operative Ziad al-Karboli.
Abdullah traveled Thursday 120 kilometers (74 miles) south of Amman to Karak, where a traditional mourning tent was set up for Kaseasbeh’s family.
Hundreds of people gathered as the king sat next to the 26-year-old first lieutenant’s father.
Safi al-Kaseasbeh branded IS as “infidels and terrorists who know no humanity or human rights,” and said the “international community must destroy” the group.
IS had offered to spare Kaseasbeh’s life and free Japanese journalist Kenji Goto — who was later beheaded — in exchange for Rishawi’s release.
Rishawi, 44, was sentenced to death for her role in triple hotel bombings in Amman in 2005, which killed 60 people.
She was closely linked to IS’s predecessor organization in Iraq, and was seen as an important symbol for the jihadists.
Jordanian television suggested Kaseasbeh was killed on January 3, before IS offered to spare him and free Goto in return for Rishawi’s release.
Following the airman’s capture, another member of the US-led coalition, the United Arab Emirates, withdrew from airstrike missions over fears for the safety of its pilots, a US official said.
On Thursday, the US military said it was “repositioning some assets” to northern Iraq in a move designed to shorten the response time needed to reach pilots who end up in IS-held territory.
US President Barack Obama, who hosted King Abdullah in a hastily organized meeting before his return to Jordan, decried the “cowardice and depravity” of IS.
IS had previously beheaded two US journalists, an American aid worker and two British aid workers in similar videos. It has also killed a second Japanese hostage.
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