Jordan vows 'all efforts' to save pilot seized by ISIL jihadists

Jordan vowed Dec. 25 to make every effort to save a pilot captured by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in Syria as Washington denied claims the jihadists shot his warplane out of the sky.

Maaz al-Kassasbeh, a 26-year-old first lieutenant in the Jordanian air force, was captured by ISIL on Dec. 24 after his F-16 jet crashed while on a mission against the jihadists over northern Syria.

It was the first warplane lost and the first capture of a serviceman since the coalition launched strikes against ISIL in Syria in September.

It was also a major propaganda victory for the Sunni extremist group, which released several photographs parading the captured pilot.

"The Jordanian government... is making all efforts with several crisis cells to free (the pilot)," government daily Al-Rai said in an editorial Dec. 25.  "We are confident that our brave one will be released... He has not been forgotten," it said.

Jordan, along with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, has joined the U.S.-led coalition carrying out air strikes against ISIL after it seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq.

Kassasbeh's plane went down near the Syrian city of Raqqa, which ISIL has used as its de facto capital and where coalition warplanes have carried out regular strikes.

The jihadists and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed the plane was brought down by an anti-aircraft missile, raising concerns for other coalition planes flying in the area.

But the U.S. military dismissed the claim, saying "evidence clearly suggests that ISIL did not down the aircraft," using another name for ISIL.

"We strongly condemn the actions of ISIL, which has taken captive the...