Jordan's air strikes on IS 'beginning of retaliation'

A Royal Jordanian Air Force plane takes off from an air base to strike the Islamic state. Photo: Reuters

Jordanian air strikes on Islamic State (IS) targets are "the beginning of our retaliation" for the killing of a captured Jordanian pilot, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh has said.

He told CNN that Jordan was going after IS "with everything that we have".

Jordan had previously only bombed militant bases in Syria, but Judeh said the raids now expanded into Iraq.

This comes after IS released a video showing Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burned alive in a cage.

After Thursday's strikes, the Jordanian war planes flew over Lt Kasasbeh's home village.

Their flight coincided with a visit to the village by Jordanian King Abdullah II, who was meeting the pilot's family.

The king has vowed to the step up the fight against IS. Jordan is part of a US-led coalition bombing the militants.

'Ongoing effort'

In a separate interview with Fox News, Judeh said: "We said we are going to take this all the way, we are going to go after them wherever they are and we're doing that."

The minister confirmed that some of the strikes targeted militant training camps and ammunition depots both in Syria and Iraq.

"Today more Syria than Iraq, but... it's an ongoing effort."

Lt Kasasbeh, 26, was captured by the militants in December after his F-16 fighter jet crashed in Syria.

IS this week released its video showing the pilot's execution.

Jordan has officially confirmed the death, but said it believed the pilot was killed on 3 January.

'Enemies of Islam'

On Thursday, Jordan's state TV showed King Abdullah sitting sombre-faced with Saif al-Kasasbeh, the pilot's father, at a gathering in Aya village, near the city of Karak, south of the capital Amman.

The king gestured to the skies as the warplanes flew overhead, media reports said.

The army said in a statement that "dozens of jet fighters" had struck IS targets, including training camps and weapons warehouses.

State television showed people writing messages on what appeared to be missiles for the air strikes, with one calling IS "the enemies of Islam".

Also on Thursday, Jordan released an imprisoned jihadi cleric, Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi, whose writings had inspired members of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Maqdisi, who has previously condemned IS as a "deviant organisation", was detained in late 2014 for promoting jihadist views online.

The reason for his release was unclear, but security sources told Reuters that Maqdisi was expected to condemn the burning of the pilot.

On Wednesday, Jordan responded to the killing of the pilot by executing two convicts, including Sajida al-Rishawi, a failed female suicide bomber, and an al-Qaeda operative.

Last week, IS had demanded the release of Rishawi in return for sparing the pilot's life.

Meanwhile, the US military said that the US-led coalition had conducted a total of nine air strikes on IS-targets in Iraq, and three on targets in Syria, between Wednesday and Thursday morning.

Those strikes hit IS units near the Syrian town of Kobane, and in seven Iraqi cities including Fallujah, Kirkuk and Mosul, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement.

Jordan is one of four Arab states to have taken part in the anti-IS air strikes in Syria.