Hope for captured Jordanian pilot ‘very slim’
AMERICAN and Jordanian special forces were on standby yesterday to rescue a Jordanian pilot captured by Islamic State fighters after his jet crashed in Syria.
The United States said there was no evidence that the F-16 had been shot down, contradicting claims by the militants that it had been hit by a ground-to-air missile.
The seizure of the airman – a huge propaganda coup for Isis – is the biggest setback suffered by Washington and its allies, including Jordan and Britain, since they began conducting air strikes against the extremist group more than four months ago.
A senior British general said it was vital for the coalition’s resolve to remain strong.
‘‘When Jordan bravely took up arms against Isis, they knew there would be inevitable tactical setbacks,’’ General Lord Richards of Herstmonceux, the previous head of the armed forces, said.
‘‘I have no doubt that under [Jordan’s] King Abdullah, who absolutely understands what is at stake, Jordanian resolve will not weaken,’’ he said. ‘‘Nor must ours. It is precisely what Isis cynically and cruelly seeks to achieve.’’
General Lloyd Austin, American commander of coalition operations in Iraq and Syria, pledged that the US would support efforts to save the Jordanian pilot, First Lieutenant Muath alKasaesbeh, 26. He is the first service person from the alliance to be taken captive.
Austin also denied that the pilot’s aircraft – the first allied warplane to be lost over Syria – was brought down by enemy fire.
‘‘We will not tolerate Isis attempts to misrepresent or exploit this unfortunate crash for their own purposes,’’ he said.
Abdullah met commanders at Jordan’s military headquarters, where a round-the-clock operations room has been set up.
Washington, as the lead nation in the coalition, would have had plans in place to rescue an ally should they fall into enemy hands, said Colonel Richard Kemp, a former British army officer with knowledge of hostage rescue.
‘‘There is no question that the Americans together with the Jordanian special forces will be doing whatever they can to find out where he is and to get him,’’ he said.
‘‘The Islamic State will know that is the case and will be doing everything they can to make sure he is not found. I think the chances of getting him back are very slim. It depends on getting intelligence of the whereabouts.’’
Any attempt to launch a rescue would be incredibly high-risk, with the potential of an even bigger propaganda victory for Isis if it failed.
The US has so far failed to res-
A photo published by a pro-Isis group claims to show a captured Jordanian air force pilot, First Lieutenant Muath al-Kasaesbeh, surrounded by Isis fighters. cue any American or British civilian hostage captured by Isis, five of whom have been beheaded.
Britain would not be involved in any rescue mission because its piloted aircraft are only taking part in strike operations in Iraq, a Whitehall source said.
The captured F-16 pilot had been taking part in a coalition air strike over the province of Raqqa, the stronghold of Isis militants on northeast Syria, when disaster struck.
Isis used social media to publish pictures appearing to show the pilot being held by the group’s fighters and images of what they said was his Jordanian military ID card.
One image showed the pilot, wearing a white shirt, being led out of water by armed fighters. Another showed him on land surrounded by at least a dozen fighters in military fatigues and equipped with assault rifles.
His father Safi Yousef appealed to the captors to show mercy and release his son, whom say is a pious Muslim.
A friend said al-Kasaesbeh, who is from a prominent Jordanian family, was fervent in his commitment to his mission and felt it was a religious duty to fight extremist groups such as Isis that were ‘‘distorting the true spirit of Islam’’.
Jordan, a close ally of Britain, is one of the countries participating in the US-led coalition, which has been bombing Isis targets in Syria since September. The air strikes began over Iraq in August.
It has provided a logistics base for the air campaign and is a hub for intelligence-gathering operations against the jihadists. Britain is planning to train moderate Syrian rebels in the country as part of its contribution.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have also joined or supported strikes against Isis targets in Syria.
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