UAE to rejoin coalition strikes against Islamic State

As part of the move, UAE stations a squadron of its F-16 warplanes in Jordan to strike at IS targets

ABU DHABI: After withdrawing in December from the US-led strikes against Islamic State (IS) group following the Jordanian pilot Maaz al Kassasbeh’s capture, the United Arab Emirates on Saturday ordered a squadron of F-16 warplanes to be stationed in Jordan to support it in strikes against the militant group.

The UAE rejoined the strikes after the US military on February 6 deployed aircraft and troops to northern Iraq to boost rescue capabilities for downed coalition pilots. The move came after the UAE had requested American forces to position rescue assets closer to operational zones to improve chances of for pilots such as Jordan's Kassasbeh, downed over hostile territory.

The WAM, UAE’s official news agency, on Saturday said that Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahayan, deputy head of the UAE armed forces, had ordered the move.

"The initiative... reaffirms the UAE'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 Maaz al Kassasbeh," the Jordanian pilot burned alive by IS, the agency reported.

WAM said the deployment was aimed at supporting Jordan's military in the fight against "the brutal terrorist organisation" IS, without specifying the number of aircraft involved or their role.

It said the militant organisation "showed all the world its ugliness and violation of all religious and human values through abominable crimes" that caused "outrage and disgust" among Arab peoples.

After Kassasbeh's warplane crashed in Syria in December, the UAE withdrew from the US-led coalition's strike missions over fears for the safety of its pilots. However, a US official said on Friday, after Secretary of State John Kerry met Gulf ministers in Munich, that UAE flights were likely to resume "in a couple of days".

Abu Dhabi had also "reaffirmed its commitment to the coalition" brought together by the United States to try to defeat the militants who have taken over a swathe of territory in Iraq and Syria.

Another US official said that among all the Gulf countries the pilot's brutal immolation by IS "has been a unifying event doubling their resolve to take the fight to Daesh", using an Arabic acronym for the militant group.