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Jordan bombs IS targets for the third day

February 7, 2015

Pilots from Jordan have launched airstrikes against "Islamic State" targets for the third day running. The country began an air offensive to "wipe out" the IS after the jihadi militants brutally killed its pilot.

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Jordan airforce strikes IS targets in Syria
Image: picture alliance/abaca

Jordanian pilots carried out air strikes on "Islamic State" (IS) targets for the third consecutive day on Saturday in response to the extremists brutally executing its pilot, Muath al-Kaseasbeh, who had been an IS captive for nearly two months.

"Sorties of air force fighters today bombed bases of the Daesh terror gang," Jordan's state television said in a Saturday bulletin, referring to the IS by its Arabic name, Daesh, considered derogatory by many.

Amman conducted over 60 raids in the past three days, targeting ammunition depots, training camps and a communications tower belonging to the IS, a senior security official told Reuters news agency.

Jordan to "wipe out" IS

Earlier on Saturday, Jordan's interior Minister Hussein al-Majali warned that his military was aiming to completely "wipe out" the jihadis. Speaking to the state-run Al-Rai newspaper, al-Majali said their pilot's killing was a turning point for Jordan and that his country would go after the militants "wherever they are."

The most recent bombings were "the beginning of a continued process to eliminate them and wipe them out completely," al-Majali said, although Jordan's belligerent approach raised concerns about heightened attacks on Amman.

However, al-Majali allayed all fears, saying that security services had a tight grip and were ready for "anyone who wants to interfere in the security of Jordan."

Jordan joined the US-led coalition against IS last September, but said it would intensify its attacks after the militants killed its pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh in the most barbaric manner. IS extremists have taken over last swathes of Syria and Iraq and aim to establish an Islamic caliphate based on orthodox Islamic Sharia law.

mg/rc (AP, Reuters)