A warplane in the US-led coalition that is bombing ISIS in Syria went down near Raqqa today, the AP reports, and Jordan is confirming ISIS claims that one of its pilots has been captured by the militants. The pro-ISIS Raqqa Media Center published photos to Facebook showing a bleeding man they claim is the Jordanian pilot, reports the BBC. The photos show a man in a white shirt being taken out of a body of water by armed men, as well as an image of a military card and a caption identifying him as Royal Jordanian Air Force Flight Lieutenant Moaz Youssef al-Kasasbeh, the BBC notes. The lieutenant's father confirmed to a Syrian newspaper that his son's plane went down in Syria and passed a message along to ISIS: "May Allah plant mercy in your hearts and may you release my son."
It would be the first warplane shot down by the Islamic State since airstrikes began three months ago, and the first foreign soldier to fall into the group's hands, notes the AP. Activists from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claim ISIS used an anti-aircraft missile. Some worry what this incident means for how well ISIS fighters are armed, how well US-led aircraft can protect themselves, and whether Arab nations will be more reluctant to join. In its air mission against Syrian ISIS sites, the US has been joined by Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, with Qatar lending logistical aid, the AP notes. (Most Americans support such airstrikes.)
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