Jordanian jets hit Islamic State targets in Syria
Jordan says it will deliver a "strong, earth-shaking and decisive" repsonse to the apparent killing of a captured air force pilot by Islamic State militants. Katie Sargent reports.Video provided by Reuters NewslookPhoto released by the official Jordanian news agency on Wednesday shows King Abdullah II during a meeting with his security chiefs in Amman.(Photo: Petra via AFP/Getty Images)Jordanian jets carried out airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria on Thursday and then flew back over the village of the Jordanian pilot who was burned alive by militants, according to local media reports.Jordanian state TV did not specify the specific sites the fighter jets hit, but local media reports said the planes went after targets in Raqqa, a stronghold for the terror group, The Jordan Times reports.The army confirmed in a statement that new airstrikes were carried out, but did not say which country was targeted. CNN reported U.S. military jets also hit Islamic State targets Thursday.Jordan TV said the planes that carried out Thursday's reported attacks returned to base after flying over Amman, the Jordanian capital, and Karak, the hometown of the dead pilot.The new strikes came after Jordan's King Abdullah II vowed to wage a "harsh war" against the Islamic State in the wake of a video purporting to show Jordanian fighter pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh being burned alive in a cage.The gruesome killing of the 26-year-old pilot caused outrage across the Middle East, and Jordan executed al-Qaeda-linked Iraqi prisoners Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouli before dawn Wednesday, hours after the video was released.Meeting with military chiefs Wednesday after cutting short a trip to the U.S., the king said the blood of the "martyred hero" al-Kaseasbeh would not be shed in vain."Jordan and its Arab army's response to what its son had suffered in the criminal and cowardly act, will be harsh, because this terrorist organization is not only fighting us, but fighting the true Islam and its values," he said, the country's official news agency Petra reported."We are fighting this war to protect our faith, our values and humanitarian principles, and our fight for these values will be relentless, we will be on the lookout for the criminals and hit them in their own homes."The UAE, a key U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, suspended its airstrikes against the extremist group in December after the Jordanian pilot was captured, The New York Times reported Wednesday. The UAE is demanding that the Pentagon improve its search-and-rescue efforts in northern Iraq before it will resume strikes, the Times said, quoting unidentified U.S. officials.In Washington, leading members of Congress have called for increased U.S. military assistance to the kingdom. The U.S is currently providing Jordan with $1 billion annually in economic and military assistance.Meanwhile. NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance is set to more than double the size of its Response Force in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine and the challenge of Islamic extremism. He said the meeting of defense ministers in Brussels on Thursday is expected to boost the size of the force from 13,000 to 30,000.Stoltenberg said ministers should also approve details for establishment of a new ultrafast joint task force of about 5,000 troops. "Our decisions make clear that NATO is determined to defend all Allies against any threats from any direction," he said.The Islamic State controls large swaths of Syria and Iraq. In a report issued Wednesday in Geneva, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child said the militants are systematically killing, torturing and raping children and families of minority groups in Iraq, and called on government forces there to do more to protect them.The agency said it has received reports of "several cases of mass executions of boys, as well as reports of beheadings, crucifixions of children and burying children alive."Iraq's military has been struggling in its fight against the extremists, and the government has pleaded repeatedly for more weapons and training.Contributing: Associated PressHack attack: 80 million at risk in Anthem breachFeb 05, 2015
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