Jordanian
fighter jets have returned home after carrying out missions, state-run TV
reported Thursday.
There
was no immediate word on what the missions were or where they took place, but a
government spokesman said most targets would be in eastern Syria.
"The
plan ... is to go after (ISIS) targets in order to degrade them and defeat
them," spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said. "We want to make sure that
they will pay for the crime they did and the atrocity they did to our
pilot."
Al-Momani
said the airstrikes were being coordinated with coalition allies.
Jordan
is riding a wave of anger following the brutal killing of one of its pilots by
ISIS. A video posted by the group showed Lt. Moath al-Kasasbeh being burned
alive while confined in a cage.
The
27-year-old's family is calling for revenge.
The
airstrikes came as mourners by the thousands poured into al-Kasasbeh's
hometown, the village of Ay, to pay their respects to the family.
King
Abdullah II led a delegation of high-level dignitaries and senior tribesman.
Thursday's
military response comes a day after Jordan executed two prisoners -- Sajida al-Rishawi, a would-be suicide
bomber whose release ISIS had previously demanded as part of a prisoner
exchange, and Ziad Karbouli, a former top aide to the deceased leader of al
Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
At
the time, the pilot's father demanded that his country do more.
"These
were criminals and there is no comparison between them and Moath. His blood is
more valued than Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad Karbouli," al-Kasasbeh's
father, Safi, said. "I demand that revenge should be bigger than executing
prisoners."
His
son's horrific death was recorded, and the video was posted online Tuesday.
CNN
is not showing the images, which drew global condemnation and prompted protests
and vows of retaliation in Jordan.
King
Abdullah has promised a strong response, saying that ISIS isn't just fighting
his nation, but warring against "noble Islam."
The
country now wants to step up airstrikes against the terrorist organization,
according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation.
But
the pilot's uncle, Yassin Al Rawashdeh, told CNN that he also wants to see
ground troops involved in the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS in Iraq and
Syria.
Said
the pilot's father: "I demand that this criminal organization (ISIS) ...
should be annihilated
'An earthshaking retaliation'
Demonstrators
took to the streets in Amman and the pilot's hometown immediately after the
video was made public.
One
protester held a poster that read: "They burned our hearts, so let's burn
their dens, and their prisoners in our prisons."
Al-Momani,
the government spokesman, vowed that Jordan would deliver "an earthshaking
retaliation" and "a revenge that equals the tragedy that has befallen
the Jordanians."
Exactly
what that response will look like remains to be seen, although the outlines of
it are starting to take shape.
Jordan's
military is seeking to conduct more of the anti-ISIS airstrikes assigned by the
coalition, a U.S. official told CNN. According to that official, the number of
strikes Jordan can carry out will depend on the location of the targets,
weather and other factors.
Killing on big screens?
ISIS
apparently made a big show of the pilot's brutal execution in Raqqa, its
stronghold in Syria.
An
activist network, Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, reported that the
killing was being shown, repeatedly, on large screens across the city.
One
of ISIS' propaganda production outlets posted a video online that appears to
show a crowd cheering as flames around the pilot grow.
The
video features a tight shot of a boy, looking up as if in awe and saying that
he would "burn the pilot" himself if he had a chance and that
"all Arab tyrants should also be burned." The boy can also be heard
saying, "Obama the dog."
Because
the video is carefully orchestrated propaganda, CNN has no way to know if
people in Raqqa really feel this way, if other children were present or whether
the video participants' responses were authentic or a result of intimidation.
There
are anti-ISIS activists inside Raqqa who operate quietly. One of them, with
Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, told CNN on Tuesday that on January 8, he
was standing in the street when ISIS fighters approached, bragging that they
had set the pilot on fire.
Jordan
last week said it was willing to release al-Rishawi, the would-be suicide
bomber, in exchange for al-Kasasbeh, but the swap never happened. The Jordanian
government repeatedly asked ISIS to show proof that the pilot was still alive.
Shortly
after the video of al-Kasasbeh's killing became public, Jordanian military
spokesman Mamdouh Al Amri said that authorities believe the pilot had been
killed as far back as January 3, before ISIS began making public demands for
al-Rishawi's release.
Pilot 'gave his life defending his faith'
King
Abdullah arrived back in Jordan on Wednesday after cutting short a visit to the
United States, where he met with President Barack Obama.
"The
brave pilot gave his life defending his faith, country and nation and joined
other Jordanian martyrs who gave their lives for Jordan," Abdullah said in
a televised statement Tuesday, describing ISIS as a cowardly and deviant group
that has nothing to do with Islam.
ISIS
captured al-Kasasbeh in December after his fighter jet crashed near Raqqa.
The
pilot was one of eight children, according to the Jordan Times. He was from
Karak governorate and graduated from King Hussein Air College, the newspaper
said.
At
the time of his capture, his father told the paper that his son was "a
very modest and religious person" who memorized the Quran and "was
never harmful to anyone."
U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry described al-Kasasbeh as everything ISIS is not:
"He was brave, compassionate and principled."
"That
he was murdered after his father's plea for compassion reminds all the world
that this foe has no agenda other than to kill and destroy, and places no value
on life, including that of fellow Muslims," Kerry said.
ISIS
is known to be holding at least two Western hostages still: John Cantlie, a
British journalist who has appeared in a number of ISIS-produced videos, and an
American woman who is a 26-year-old aid worker.
Culled from CNN.
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