ISIS news today 2015: Jordan Jets Bomb ISIS Targets For Second Day; Militants Claim U.S. Hostage Killed In Raid
Jordan carried out a second straight day of air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria to avenge a captive Jordanian pilot burnt to death by the extremist group, official Jordanian sources reported on Friday.
"Sorties of air force fighters executed several airstrikes against select targets of the Daesh gang," state television said in a bulletin, using a derogatory Arabic name for the militants, according to Reuters.
Jordan earlier announced that it sent tens of fighter jets to hammer ISIS targets in Syria on Thursday, including ammunition depots and training camps.
On Friday, ISIS claimed that an American female hostage it was holding in Syria had been killed during the Jordanian airstrike when a building where she was being held was hit, according to the SITE monitoring group.
However, Jordan said it was highly skeptical about the ISIS claims. "We are looking into it but our first reaction is that we think it is illogical and we are highly skeptical about it... It's part of their criminal propaganda," government spokesman Mohammad Momani said.
"How could they identify Jordanian war planes from a huge distance in the sky? What would an American woman be doing in a weapons warehouse?" he added.
The U.S. State Department on Friday also said it could not confirm reports that a female American hostage had been killed in a recent air strike conducted in Syria.
Thousands of people marched to Amman to express their support of the Jordanian government's action against the ISIS.
Support flowed after Jordan launched an airstrike on ISIS targets in Syria in retaliation for the torching to death of a captive Jordanian pilot two days earlier.
Sources said the Jordanian jets bombed ISIS training centers, arms and ammunition depots. "All targets were completely destroyed and all the planes returned to their bases safely," the Jordanian military said in a statement aired over TV, according to CNN.
"This is just the beginning and you shall know who the Jordanians are," the military statement added about the air mission dubbed as "Moath the Martyr."
Nasser Judeh, minister of Jordan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, warned that the attacks were just the beginning of the nation's retaliation over the death of Lt. Moath Al-Kasasbeh.
"We are upping the ante. We're going after them wherever they are, with everything that we have. But it's not the beginning, and it's certainly not the end," Judeh said, according to CNN.
The armed action from Jordan came after a video of the 27-year-old pilot being burned to death inside a cage was posted online by ISIS that was believed to have been filmed on Jan. 3.
He was captured by the militants in December after his F-16 fighter jet crashed in Syria.
"We're going to go after them and we will eradicate them. We are at the forefront. This is our fight," Judeh was quoted in the CNN report.
In a separate BBC interview, Judeh confirmed Jordan is also targeting ISIS positions in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Jordanian Queen Rania joined thousands of people taking to the streets of the capital in a show of solidarity in support for the military strikes on Friday morning.
The crowds gathered outside the capital's al-Husseini mosque after weekly prayers, waving Jordanian flags and pictures of Lt. Kasasbeh, BBC reported.
Some held placards that read: "Yes to punishment. Yes to the eradication of terrorism."
On Friday, even jihadi cleric Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi, whose writings had inspired members of al-Qaeda in Iraq, said the killing of Lt. Kasasbeh was "not acceptable in any religion."