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Update: Jordan says airstrikes on IS to go on

Xinhua, February 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Royal Jordan Air Force said Sunday it will continue airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

In a press briefing in Amman, Royal Jordan Air Force Commander Major General Mansour Jbour said the size and volume of air strikes will depend on targets.

Over the past three days, air force attacked a total of 56 IS targets, he said, without saying whether those targets were in Syria or Iraq.

The warplanes attacked leadership centers for IS, training camps and IS fighters directly, and destroyed weapons, vehicles and facilities for IS, he said, adding that "we have achieved what we aimed at."

He added that the air force took part in 946 missions since joining a U.S.-led international coalition to fight IS last year.

Over the months, the coalition members have conducted some 5,500 airstrikes, and killed more than 7,000 fighters since the mission started, he said.

Earlier in the week, the IS post a video clip on the Internet, which purportedly showed a captured Jordanian pilot was burned to death.

Following the incident, King Abdullah II of Jordan vowed that Jordan's response to the killing of the pilot will be harsh.

He said Jordan is engaged in this war to protect Islam and its values.

Maaz al-Kassasbeh, the 26-year-old Jordanian pilot, was one of pilots with the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition, which comprises of several Arab forces, including Jordan.

He was captured when his plane crashed while carrying a bomb mission against IS militants in Syria late last year. Endit