UAE Foreign Minister Abdallah bin Zayed told Secretary of State John F. Kerry Friday that UAE will resume airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS), according to The Washington Post. UAE has reportedly suspended its airstrikes against the IS, and reduced its Air Force's role to noncombat activities, following the capture of Jordanian Pilot Moaz Al Kasassbeh in December, and urged the international coalition to use V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircrafts which are stationed in Kuwait, hundreds of kilometers from the ongoing battles with IS militants, in its search and rescue missions. The UAE foreign minister did not elaborate on why the country had changed its mind, however, he expressed his country's deep anger on the execution of Kasassbeh. UAE was one of the first states to join the anti-IS collation, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Jordan, which is considering the deployment of ground troops to fight IS militants. Coalition members had expressed concerns over the efficiency of U.S. search and rescue missions and asked for the aircrafts to be placed in northern Iraq. On their part, U.S. defense ministry officials stressed that an intensive airborne search was immediately initiated, as soon as Al Kasassbeh's plane went down and personnel recovery forces were moving toward the pilot's last known location.
