ISIS did not shoot down Jordanian plane, says International Coalition
(IraqiNews.com) The international coalition against the ISIS organization announced early Thursday, that the ISIS did not shoot down the Jordanian military plane that was operating within the coalition tasks.
On Wednesday, Jordanian Armed Forces confirmed in a statement that a Royal Air Force plane was shot down in the city of Raqqa northern Syria while implementing coalition-related operations. It was also confirmed that the Jordanian pilot was taken hostage by the elements of ISIS.
US Central Command, which supervises the coalition air operations over Iraq and Syria, said, “Evidence clearly indicates that ISIS did not shoot down the plane as alleged by its elements.” The cause of the plane crash was not revealed nonetheless.
Gen. Lloyd Austin, commander of Central Command, said, “We strongly condemn the actions of ISIS that captured the pilot of the crashed aircraft.”
He added, “We will support all efforts to guarantee restoring the pilot safely, and will not tolerate ISIS attempts to misinterpret or exploit the unfortunate crash of this plane to serve its objectives.”
Jordan did not reveal the cause of the crash near the town of Raqqa in eastern Syria, but ISIS and Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile.
This is the first coalition plane to be shot down since the beginning of the air strikes against ISIS in Syria in September.
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