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ISIS shoots down warplane over Syria | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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This image posted by the Raqqa Media Center shows members of ISIS with a captured pilot, center, wearing a white shirt in Raqqa, Syria, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Raqqa Media Center)


This image posted by the Raqqa Media Center  shows members of ISIS with a captured pilot, center, wearing a white shirt in Raqqa, Syria, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014.  (AP Photo/Raqqa Media Center)

This image posted by the Raqqa Media Center shows members of ISIS with a captured pilot, center, wearing a white shirt in Raqqa, Syria, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Raqqa Media Center)

Beirut, AP—Jordan’s military says one of its warplanes that was on a mission over Syria has crashed in the northern province of Raqqa and the pilot was captured by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group.

The statement carried by state news agency Petra said that IS and “those who support it” will be responsible for the safety of the pilot.

Activists said earlier that ISIS fighters shot down a Jordanian warplane in Raqqa on Wednesday and captured the pilot.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the aircraft was shot down near the northern city of Raqqa, the Islamic State group’s de facto capital. The Observatory said the warplane was part of the US-led coalition, adding that the captured pilot is an Arab.

Another group, the Raqqa Media Center (RMC), that covers areas under ISIS control in Raqqa claimed that the pilot is Jordanian.

It is the first warplane shot down by ISIS since the US-led coalition began its airstrikes against the group in Syria three months ago.

RMC published a photograph said to be of the pilot who appeared wearing a white shirt as he was surrounded by 11 fighters, some of them masked. Another photograph published by the group showed the man—naked from the waist down and soaking wet—being captured by three gunmen as he was taken out of what appeared to be a lake.