Jordan's military today confirmed that one of its pilots was captured by the Islamic State jihadist group after his plane went down in Syria, official news agency Petra said.
"During a mission today morning conducted by several Jordanian Air Force planes against hideouts of the IS terrorist organisation in the Raqa region, one of the planes went down and the pilot was taken hostage" by IS, Petra quoted a source from the military's general staff as saying.
The official did not say why the plane went down, but both the jihadists and a monitoring group said it had been shot with an anti-aircraft missile.
IS released photographs of the captured pilot and showed a military card identifying him as 26-year-old First Lieutenant Maaz al-Kassasbeh.
His father Youssef was quoted by Jordanian news website Saraya as saying the family had been informed by the air force of his capture.
He said he was told the military was "working to save his life" and that Jordan's ruler, King Abdullah II, was following events.
"My other son met with the commander of the Jordanian air force who confirmed to him that my son Maaz was captured by IS," he said, calling for the jihadists to show "mercy and free my son".
He said his son had served for six years in the air force.
