Jordan Also Rejects Islamic State's Claim of Downing Fighter Jet

Following the United States, the Jordanian army announced on Friday, December 26, that its F-16 aircraft was not shot down by the Islamic State group, contrary to the group's claims. In a statement on the official website of the Jordanian army, parts of which were published by AFP on Friday, it was stated that 'initial evidence' indicates that the crash of the Jordanian Air Force's American aircraft was not due to 'ISIS fire.' The statement used the older name of the Islamic State group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Nevertheless, the Jordanian army, like the U.S. Central Command, stated that it could not determine the cause of the F-16's crash: 'Until we have access to the wreckage of the aircraft and its pilot, we cannot definitively determine the cause of the crash.' The Islamic State group claimed on Wednesday, December 24, that it had downed a coalition warplane led by the United States near the city of Raqqa in Syria and captured its Jordanian pilot. The group later released images of 26-year-old Lieutenant Muath al-Kasasbeh, the Jordanian pilot, along with his identification documents in the hands of its members. However, the U.S. Central Command later announced that the Jordanian Air Force's aircraft was not downed by the Islamic State group. This is the first coalition warplane to crash since the start of operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. Jordan, a neighbor of Syria, along with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain, is one of the Arab countries that has joined the U.S.-led international coalition to combat the so-called Islamic State group. The U.S. and Jordan have stated that they will spare no effort to free the Jordanian pilot.