Jordan air strikes kill 55 militants
AMMAN: Dozens of Jordanian fighter jets bombed Islamic State (IS) targets yesterday, including training centres and weapons storage sites, the military said, pledging to keep up the attacks until the militants are defeated.
Iraqi media said that the Jordanian air strikes had killed 55 IS militants, including a senior commander, known as the "Prince of Nineveh".
Jordan has said it would respond harshly to the killing of fighter pilot Lieutenant Mouath Al Kasaesbeh by the militants.
A video released earlier this week showed the pilot being burnt to death in a cage, setting off a wave of anger in Jordan and the region.
State television showed footage of yesterday's strikes, including one that set off a large ball of fire after impact. It showed two pilots scribbling messages in chalk on the missiles. "For you, the enemies of Islam," read one message.
The military said all targets were destroyed.
The announcement did not say whether the strikes where carried out against IS positions in Syria or Iraq. The IS militants control about one-third of each country.
Jordan's information minister, Mohammad Al Momani said Amman was "more determined than ever to fight the terrorist."
A government spokesman said Jordan would step up its role in the US-led fight against the militant group.
Jordan joined the US-led military alliance against the IS group in September, but up to now is believed to have only bombed sites in Syria.
The statement, read on state television, was entitled, "This is the beginning and you will get to know the Jordanians" - an apparent warning to IS. It said the strikes will continue "until we eliminate them".
Jordan's King Abdullah was paying a condolence visit to the family of the pilot in southern Jordan when the fighter jets roared overhead.
The king pointed upward, toward the planes, as he sat next to the pilot's father, Safi Al Kasaesbeh.
Al Kasaesbeh told the assembled mourners that the planes had returned from strikes over Raqqa, the de facto capital of the militants' self-declared caliphate.
His son had been captured near Raqqa when his F-16 fighter plane went down in December.
Earlier this week, IS displayed the video of the killing of the pilot on outdoor screens in Raqqa, to chants of "God is Great" from some in the audience, according to another video posted by the militants.
Also yesterday, Jordan released an influential jihadi cleric, Abu Mohammed Al Maqdesi, who was detained in October after speaking out against Jordan's participation in the anti-IS coalition, according to his lawyer, Moussa Al Abdallat. Jordan's Islamic militants are split between supporters of IS and Jabhat Al Nusra, the branch of Al Qaeda in Syria. Last year, Al Maqdesi had criticised IS militants for attacking fellow Muslims. However, after Jordan joined the military coalition, he called on his website for Muslim unity against a "crusader war," a reference to coalition air strikes.
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