ISIS says Jordan airstrike killed US hostage
BEIRUT – Islamic State extremists said Friday that Jordanian warplanes operating as part of the U.S.-led coalition attacking militant targets had killed an American female hostage, an assertion greeted with deep skepticism in Washington and Amman.
In a statement posted on a Twitter account, the radical group said the Jordanian bombardment hit a compound where the hostage, Kayla Mueller, 26, a humanitarian worker, was being held near the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, an Islamic State stronghold.
“The crusader criminal air force struck a site outside of Raqqa city today at noon during Friday prayers, and the strikes lasted for one hour,” said the Islamic State message. “And we have confirmed the death of the American hostage by the bombs that fell on the site.”
The militant message – titled “The losing Jordanian Air Force kills an American hostage” – included photos of a bombed-out building complex where the fatal airstrike supposedly took place.
There was no immediate corroboration of the hostage’s death from U.S. intelligence officials, said Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman. The administration was “deeply concerned” about the reports, he said.
Jordanian authorities immediately denounced the assertion as a “publicity stunt” meant to drive a wedge between Amman and Washington, close partners in counter-terrorism and other security matters.
Jordan has been a key Arab participant in months of U.S.-led aerial bombardment against Islamic State, which President Barack Obama has vowed to “degrade and ultimately destroy.”
Amman has taken a defiant and vengeful approach to the militants since news broke this week that a captive Jordanian pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, had been burned alive by his Islamic State captors. Jordanian media have boasted of Jordanian air force F-16 fighter jet strikes on Raqqa on Thursday and Friday, though Amman has not confirmed any specific targets.
The Pentagon said airstrikes occurred Friday against Islamic State positions but declined to say where. Jordanian air assaults are conducted in conjunction with U.S. military planners.
Still, the sensational report of another American hostage killed – this time purportedly by an allied air force – immediately resounded on the Internet, in cable news channels and in daily headlines.
Jordan is one of a number of Arab nations participating in the U.S.-led coalition that has been bombing Islamic State targets in Syria since September.
Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said U.S. drones, refueling tankers and radar-evading F-22 fighter jets escorted Jordanian warplanes Thursday during airstrikes over Syria. The spokesman did not specify what targets were hit.
An unofficial pro-Islamic State news outlet, Aamaq News, reported that coalition warplanes had conducted more than 10 strikes Friday on targets in Raqqa. But neither Jordanian nor U.S. officials confirmed that Raqqa was targeted Friday.
In Jordan, the allegation that its warplanes had killed a captive American were brushed aside as propaganda.
“They tried to cause problems internally in Jordan and haven’t succeeded,” Jordanian Interior Minister Hussein Majali told CNN. “They are now trying to drive a wedge between the coalition with this latest low PR stunt.”
Analysts also cautioned against taking the statement at face value. Islamic State, skillful in the art of propaganda, has previously issued many misleading messages and has tried to capitalize on the fate of its hostages.
In the recent case of the Jordanian pilot, for instance, Islamic State indicated to Jordanian authorities that it would hold off on executing him if Amman released an Iraqi militant on death row. But Jordanian authorities now say the pilot had been killed weeks earlier and the militants were leading them on.