Islamic State (IS) published recently, in their magazine Dabiq, an interview with the Jordanian pilot they captured last Wednesday where he claimed that IS shot down his military aircraft near Raqqa in northern Syria. First Lieutenant Mu'ath al-Kasasbeh appeared in photos in this month's issue of Dabiq magazine, issued by IS in English language, wearing the orange uniform of IS prisoners. He said that his mission had been to destroy the anti-aircraft weapons and form air cover for other fighter jets when his fighter jet F-16 was shot down by a heat-seeking missile. The 26-year-old Jordanian is the first foreign soldier to fall into the extremists' hands since the international coalition kicked off its military operations against IS in past September. He said in the interview that there is a US base in Qatar, where they plan all missions against the terrorist group, adding that Americans conduct exploratory flights with drones to locate their next target. He provided IS fighters with information about the number of American soldiers in Muwaffaq Salti airbase in Jordan. Statements of al- Kasasbeh contradict the claims of US that IS didn't shoot down the Jordanian aircraft. Jordan's government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said he had seen the interview, but declined to make any comments. At the end of the interview, an IS militant asked: "Do you know what the Islamic State will do to you?" and Al-Kasasbeh replied: "Yes... They will kill me..."
