Jordan said late on Saturday its warplanes bombed positions held by the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group in southern Syria, two years after one of its pilots was captured and killed by the armed group.
Friday’s strikes came on the second anniversary of IS’s release of video showing pilot Moaz al-Kassasbeh being burned alive in a cage after his aircraft crashed in Syria in December 2014, Aljazeera reported.
“Jordanian Air Force planes, in memory of our martyrs who have fallen in our war against terrorism, on Friday evening targeted various positions of the terrorist gang IS in southern Syria,” the military said in a statement.
It said the strikes against targets, including a captured former Syrian Army base, killed and wounded several IS members and destroyed an arms depot, a car bomb workshop and barracks.
Jordanian forces used drones and precision-guided munitions in the operation, which was part of the attacks, it said.
The kingdom is part of an international coalition battling IS.
The strikes came as an alliance of US-backed fighters began a new phase of campaign on the IS-held city of Raqqa in northern Syria, aiming to complete the encirclement of the group’s stronghold.
