UAE sends F16s to Jordan to fight Daesh
Abu Dhabi: The UAE will station an F16 squadron in Jordan in support of military efforts in fighting the terrorist organisation Daesh, a WAM report said.
General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, has ordered the despatch of the squadron in line with the directives of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The move reaffirms the UAE’s support to Jordan for its leading role and immense sacrifices for the region’s security and stability, particularly by “martyr and hero Muath Al Kasaesbeh”.
The UAE squadron will support the Jordanian Armed Forces, the Jordan Arab Army, and their participation in the global coalition to combat Daesh that has violated all religious and human values through abominable crimes which drew outrage and disgust from the Arabs.
Jordan has intensified air strikes against Daesh targets since the militants released a video last week that showed them burning captured Jordanian pilot Al Kasaesbeh to death in a cage.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the coalition fighting Daesh bombarded Raqqa yesterday. The Britain-based monitor said more than 30 Daesh fighters had been killed in raids around Raqqa.
Coalition attacks
A coalition statement said it had carried out 11 air strikes against Daesh in Syria and 15 in Iraq during a 24-hour period up to yesterday morning.
Jordan’s Interior Minister Hussain Majali said in remarks published yesterday that the burning alive of the pilot by Daesh was a “turning point” in the kingdom’s fight against extremism.
The kingdom’s air strikes are “the beginning of an ongoing process to eliminate” Daesh, Majali said.
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