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Jordanian Plane Goes Down Over Syria; Islamic State Captures Pilot

Update at 2:32 p.m.

Jordan's military says one of its pilots has been captured by militants of the Islamic State after his plane crashed in northern Syria.

In a statement, the Jordanian military said the Islamic State "bears responsibility" for the safety of the pilot, identified as Flight Lt. Moaz Youssef al-Kasasbeh.

U.S. military officials tell NPR they believe the plane wasn't shot down by ISIS, and they're still working to determine what brought the plane down. That statement came after an earlier report by The Associated Press that cited a Jordanian official saying the plane had been shot down by "ground fire."

The militants, on social media, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group, said Kasasbeh's aircraft was shot down with an anti-aircraft missile in the province of Raqqa. It is the first coalition aircraft shot down by the group that controls large swaths of Iraq and Syria.

Jordan is part of a U.S-led coalition that is carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS or ISIL. The Arab members of the coalition include Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar provides logistical support. Other members include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and the U.K.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Krishnadev Calamur is NPR's deputy Washington editor. In this role, he helps oversee planning of the Washington desk's news coverage. He also edits NPR's Supreme Court coverage. Previously, Calamur was an editor and staff writer at The Atlantic. This is his second stint at NPR, having previously worked on NPR's website from 2008-15. Calamur received an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.