Thousands of Jordanians turned out on the streets of the capital Amman on Friday to denounce the burning to death of a captured Jordanian pilot by Islamic State militants.
The rally comes a day after Jordan said its warplanes had bombed Islamic State targets in Syria in retaliation for the execution of pilot Mu’adh al-Kasasbeh.
Protesters marching in central Amman chanted: “Death to Daesh,” using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State, which released a video on Tuesday showing al-Kasasbeh’s killing.
Queen Nour joined the rally, in which participants carried photos of the executed airman.
King Abdullah II has vowed a “relentless war” against Islamic State in response to the pilot’s killing.
On Thursday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said his country’s military action against Islamic State was “the beginning of our retaliation.”
“We are upping the ante, we are going after them wherever they are, with everything that we have,” Judeh told CNN. “This is our war.”
Al-Kasasbeh was captured by Islamic State in December after his jet crashed in Syria’s north-eastern city of al-Raqqa, a stronghold of the radical group that also controls territory in neighbouring Iraq.
Judeh said his country was now targeting Islamic State in Iraq, marking a shift in Jordan’s military strategy that previously confined its hits to Syria.
Jordan is a member of a US-led coalition, which has since September carried out an aerial campaign against Islamic State targets in Syria.
Al-Kasasbeh, who belongs to an influential tribe, has become a national cause in the kingdom since his capture.
GNA
