Jordan’s revenge will be ‘as huge as our loss’

A spokesman for the Jordanian armed forces confirmed the death of the “hero pilot” Lt. Moaz al-Kasasbeh and vows revenge.

“While the military forces mourn the martyr, they emphasize his blood will not be shed in vain. Our punishment and revenge will be as huge as the loss of the Jordanians,” Mamdouh al-Ameri says in a statement read on Jordanian TV.

Kasasbeh, 26, fell into the hands of the terrorists in December when his Jordanian F-16 crashed near Raqqa, Syria. He is the only pilot from the US-led coalition battling the group to have been captured.

At a tribal meeting place where the pilot’s relatives have waited for weeks for word on his fate, chants against Jordan’s King Abdullah II erupted and some family members wept. An uncle shouted in Arabic: “I received a phone call from the chief of staff saying God bless his soul.”

— AP