US says Jordanian plane not shot down by Islamic State militants

A Jordanian plane that crashed in Syria was not shot down by Islamic State militants, the United States said. 

A picture published by the Raqqa Media Center Group, allegedly showing the captured pilot
A picture published by the Raqqa Media Center Group, allegedly showing the captured pilot

A Jordanian plane that crashed in an Islamic State (IS)- controlled region of Syria was not shot down by IS militants, the United States said.

The plane was lost on Wednesday morning and its pilot was captured. However, the US has denied claims by IS fighters that they shot down the plane with a heat-seeking missile.

"Evidence clearly indicates that Isil [IS] did not down the aircraft as the terrorist organisation is claiming," the US Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement, adding that it would not tolerate the group’s "attempts to misrepresent or exploit this unfortunate aircraft crash for their own purposes". They confirmed that IS had “taken captive the downed pilot”.

IS fighters have published photographs showing the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Moaz Youssef al-Kasasbeh, being captured. The pro-IS IS-owned Raqqa Media Center posted photos on its Facebook page that appeared to show the captured pilot, and men taking the aircraft out of what appeared to be a lake or river.

Lt Kasasbeh's father, Youssef al-Kasasbeh, issued an appeal to IS leaders through Jordanian newspaper Saraya.

"May Allah plant mercy in your hearts and may you release my son," Lt Kasasbeh’s father Youssef al-Kasasbeh said through Jordanian newspaper Saraya.

Jordan is one of four Arab states in a US-led coalition that has launched air strikes on IS targets in Syria. The F-16 Jordanian fighter jet is the first coalition aircraft to be lost on IS territory since air strikes against the group began in September. The air forces of Jordan, the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain have carried out hundreds of air strikes on IS in Syria in the past three months.

Many of their targets have been in and around Raqqa, the de facto capital of the "caliphate" whose creation IS proclaimed in June.

IS is reportedly assumed to have a limited air defence capability.

However, their fighters have downed Iraqi and Syrian government planes in the past, and their full capabilities are not known.