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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US rejects claim Islamic State shot down Jordanian jet
2014-12-25
[IsraelTimes] The United States dismissed Wednesday a claim by the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
jihadist group that it had shot down a Jordanian F-16 fighter flying with US-led coalition forces, which crashed in eastern Syria.

?Evidence clearly indicates that [the Islamic State] did not down the aircraft as the terrorist organization is claiming,? said US Central Command, the body overseeing the coalition air war over Iraq and Syria.

The statement did not give a cause for the ?crash,? and confirmed the lost jet?s Jordanian pilot had been taken captive by IS guerrillas.

?We strongly condemn the actions of [the Islamic State], which has taken captive the downed pilot,? said CentCom commander General Lloyd Austin.

?We will support efforts to ensure his safe recovery, and will not tolerate [the Islamic State?s] attempts to misrepresent or exploit this unfortunate aircraft crash for their own purposes.?

?The Jordanians are highly respected and valued partners and their pilots and crews have performed exceptionally well over the course of this campaign,? he added.
Update at 12:45 ET: ABC News adds that the airplane crashed near Raqqa, Syria, bursting into flames as it hit the ground, and the pilot ejected safely. ISIS does have Russian-made Igla anti-aircraft missile systems, possibly captured from Iraqi and Syrian arsenals.

Posted by:trailing wife

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