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Jordan vows to 'eradicate' IS

Jordan has vowed to "eradicate" the IS group as thousands marched in solidarity with slain pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh.

Pedestrians walk past a huge screen reporting on Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh in Tokyo on February 4, 2015 (KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images)
Pedestrians walk past a huge screen reporting on Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh in Tokyo on February 4, 2015 (KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images)

Jordan has vowed further retaliation against the Islamic State group for burning alive one of its pilots, as thousands rallied in Amman in solidarity with his grieving family.

The Jordanian military said "dozens of jet fighters" struck IS targets on Thursday, hitting militant training camps as well as weapons and ammunition depots.

Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told CNN the operation was "the beginning of our retaliation over this horrific and brutal murder of our brave young pilot".

IS earlier this week released a highly choreographed video of the horrifying murder of pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh, whose death has sparked grief and deep anger in Jordan.

Judeh declined to reveal Jordan's military plans, but said it would hit the militants with all its might.

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"We're upping the ante. We're going after them wherever they are, with everything that we have," he said.

"We're going to go after them and we will eradicate them.... We are at the forefront. This is our fight."

American F-16 and F-22 jets provided security to the Jordanian fighter planes, with additional support from refuelling tankers and surveillance aircraft, US officials said.

Thousands marched in the capital on Friday in a show of solidarity for the murdered pilot.

Protesters gathered after weekly prayers at the Al-Husseini mosque in central Amman, waving Jordanian flags and pictures of Kassasbeh.

"We are all Maaz.... We are all Jordan," the crowd chanted.

Placards were also held aloft that read: "Yes to punishment. Yes to the eradication of terrorism."

On Thursday, King Abdullah visited Kassasbeh's family to pay his condolences.

Hundreds of people gathered as the king sat next to the 26-year-old first lieutenant's father.

Safi al-Kassasbeh branded IS "infidels and terrorists who know no humanity or human rights", and said the "international community must destroy" the group.

Abdullah cut short a US visit and returned to Amman after the video of Kassasbeh's killing emerged.

Following the airman's capture, another member of the US-led coalition, the United Arab Emirates, withdrew from air strike missions over fears for the safety of its pilots, a US official said.

The UAE government daily Al-Ittihad said on Friday that Abu Dhabi was concerned over the coalition's failure to arm Sunni tribes in Iraq, which are helping government forces and other militia to battle IS in the western Anbar province.

"Neither air strikes nor a media war are sufficient to defeat" IS, the paper said.

On Thursday, the US military said it was deploying search and rescue planes to northern Iraq in a move designed to shorten the response time needed to reach pilots who end up in IS-held territory.


3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



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