
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Islamic State militants have captured a Jordanian pilot after his warplane crashed in Syria while carrying out airstrikes today.
Activists say the plane went down near the city of Raqqa, the group’s de facto capital. The Raqqa Media Center has published a photograph said to be of the pilot being pulled by gunmen out of what appears to be a lake.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Jordan’s military said only that the warplane went down in Syria. A coalition official told The Associated Press that there were no immediate indications it was shot down.
Jordan’s information minister had said his country believed the plane was shot down, but added that it was “difficult to confirm.”
The Jordanian pilot is the first foreign military member to fall into the extremists’ hands since U.S.-led coalition launched its bombing campaign against the group months ago.