Jordan Executes Two in Revenge for ISIS Killing Pilot

More Executions Expected Soon

Jordanian officials have announced that they will carry out a “revenge as huge as the loss of the Jordanians” after the execution of pilot Moaz al-Kasaesbeh, who was captured by ISIS in December.

Revenge, of course, means a bunch more executions, and they have already announced a pair of people have been killed, including Sajida Rishawi, who was initially proposed as a trade for Kasaesbeh.

The other person executed was Ziad al-Karbouly, who had been accused of plotting terror attacks in Iraq against Jordanian citizens.

These are likely only the beginning, as earlier Jordanian officials said they intended to execute Rishawi and four others “immediately.”

Conspicuously absent in all this talk of revenge killing is that Jordanian officials made clear last week that they intended to start carrying out wholesale revenge executions if anything happened to the pilot, something ISIS was no doubt aware of.

Given this, it seems ISIS was not only aware that Jordan would kill Rishawi and the other detainees, but may be counting on it, as treatment of female prisoners is a huge hot-button issue for Islamists, and the execution may fuel a lot more anti-Jordan sentiment.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.