Jordanian jets return after striking at IS targets in Syria: sources

Jordanian fighter jets flew on Thursday over the hometown of a pilot killed by Islamic State militants after ending a mission against militants in Syria, a security official said.

Jordan’s King Abdullah was visiting the pilot’s family at the time of the flyover. The show of force came two days after the ultra hardline Islamic State released a video showing a captured Jordanian pilot being burned alive.

State television had earlier said the fighter jets had completed a mission without giving the location of their sortie. But a security official confirmed to Reuters the mission was in a location in Syria under Islamic State control.

Jordan’s military, which is part of the U.S.-led coalition against the group, has vowed to avenge pilot Mouath al-Kasaesbeh’s killing.

State television showed a somber king sitting alongside the army chief and senior officials visiting the Kasaesbeh tribal family in Aya, a village near Karak 100 km (60 miles) south of the capital Amman.

Thousands of Jordanians flocked to pay respects in traditional Arab Bedouin style in a part of the country where influential tribes form an important pillar of the Hashemite rule, supplying the army and security forces with its manpower.

“You are a wise monarch. These criminals violated the rules of war in Islam and they have no humanity. Even humanity disowns them,” Safi Kasaesbeh, the father of the pilot, told the king.

Sources: Reuters