U.S. says ISIS did not down plane; Jordanian pilot held captive

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) With this For the first time since a U.S.-led international coalition began airstrikes against ISIS, a coalition pilot has been captured.

After a Jordanian military plane crashed over Raqqa province in Syria, ISIS took the pilot hostage, Jordan’s state-run news agency Petra said.

Although ISIS claimed it had downed the aircraft, the U.S. military rejected the claim.

“Evidence clearly indicates” that the terrorist group “did not down the aircraft,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

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Cmdr. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, overseeing coalition military operations in Iraq and Syria, said, “The Jordanians are highly-respected and valued partners and their pilots and crews have performed exceptionally well over the course of this campaign. We strongly condemn the actions of ISIL which has taken captive the downed pilot.

“We will support efforts to ensure his safe recovery, and will not tolerate ISIL’s attempts to misrepresent or exploit this unfortunate aircraft crash for their own purposes.”

The U.S. military refers to ISIS by another of its acronyms, ISIL.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said his country “initially thought the plane might have been shot at.” But later, state news said the plane crashed.