UAE jets based in Jordan launch strikes on ISIS

UAE fighter planes bombed targets of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and safely returned to their bases in Jordan, the state news agency WAM reported on Tuesday.

"Aircraft of the F-16 squadron based in Jordan launched raids this morning against positions of the Daesh (IS) terrorist organisation, hitting their targets and returning safely to base," the UAE armed forces command said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military coalition partners struck four ISIS units amid 11 air strikes in Iraq since early Monday, the U.S. military said in a statement.

The strikes, near seven Iraqi cities including Tal Afar, Kirkuk and Bayji, also hit an ISIS bunker, fighting
positions, a checkpoint and other targets, said the statement released on Tuesday.

The U.S.-led coalition also conducted one air strike in Dayr az Zawr, Syria, hitting an ISIS vehicle, the statement
said.

The UAE had sent a squadron of F-16s to Jordan on Saturday, contradicting Western media reports the Gulf state had disengaged from the confrontation with ISIS.

WAM said the move expressed the UAE’s stance “with fraternal Jordan at all levels” and reaffirms the Gulf state’s “unwavering and constant solidarity with Jordan and its leading role and immense sacrifices for the security and stability of the region as embodied by Martyr and hero Moaz al-Kasasbeh.”

Early this week, Amman confirmed Kasasbeh, a Jordanian air force pilot, had been killed by ISIS.

Several Western media outlets reported that the UAE had suspended its air strikes against ISIS since the capture of Kasasbeh, who was burned alive by the militant group.

WAM said the UAE decision was aimed at supporting Jordanian military efforts in the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, “the brutal terrorist organization that showed all the world its ugliness and violation of all religious and human values through abominable crimes.”

The move to support Jordan also stemmed from the UAE’s “deep belief in the need for Arab collective cooperation to eliminate terrorism, through actions and words, and bolster the security, stability and moderation of the nation through the collective encountering of these terrorist gangs and their misleading ideology and brutal practices,” according to WAM.