Jordan ramps up Islamic State strikes

Jordan says it has destroyed 20 per cent of Islamic State capabilities in a three-day string of raids following the group's brutal murder of a pilot.

Jordanian pilot, Muath al-Kassasbeh

Relatives of Jordanian pilot, Muath al-Kassasbeh, currently held hostage by the group calling themselves the Islamic State (IS), fix a picture of him at the entrance of a family hall in Amman, Jordan (EPA/JAMAL NASRALLAH)

Jordan says it has destroyed 56 targets in three days of strikes on the Islamic State group after the jihadist group murdered one of its pilots.

Air Force chief Major General Mansour al-Jobour did not specify where the strikes took place, but told reporters the air raids launched since Thursday had destroyed 20 per cent of IS capabilities.

"On the first day of the campaign to avenge our airman Maaz al-Kassasbeh, 19 targets were destroyed, including training camps and equipment," he said, reading from a prepared text.

Jordan has vowed to crush IS after the jihadists burned alive Kassasbeh, who was captured in December when his F-16 warplane crashed in Syria.

Eighteen more targets, including ammunition and fuel depots and logistics centres, were hit on Friday.

On Saturday, 19 IS targets were destroyed, including barracks and residential centres.

"So far, the campaign has destroyed 20 per cent of the fighting capabilities of Daesh," he said using another name for IS which controls swathes of both Syria and Iraq.

Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told Fox News this week the air force had targeted IS in both Syria and Iraq where the jihadists have proclaimed an Islamic "caliphate" in areas it controls.

"We are determined to wipe out this terrorist gang," Jobour said during Sunday's press briefing.

The air force will step up strikes against IS over the next few days, he added.

Interior Minister Hussein Majali said in remarks published on Saturday that Kassasbeh's gruesome murder by IS was a "turning point" in the kingdom's fight against extremism.

Jordan is part of the US-led coalition of Arab and Western countries that has been carrying out air strikes against IS since September.


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Source: AAP



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