BEIRUT // The ISIL group has published what it says is an interview with a Jordanian pilot who was captured last week after his plane crashed in Syria.
In the comments attributed to the pilot, he says his plane was hit by a heat-seeking missile, endorsing the militant group’s version of events, which has been rejected by both Jordan and the United States.
The purported interview published by the ISIL online English-language magazine Dabiq on Monday was accompanied by photographs of First Lieutenant Maaz Al Kassasbeh, 26.
Mr Kassasbeh was captured by ISIL on December 24 after his F-16 jet crashed while on a mission against the extremists over northern Syria.
The crash was the first warplane from the US-led coalition lost in combat since airstrikes on ISIL began in Syria in September.
In the interview, the pilot says he expects his ISIL captors to kill him.
* Agence France-Presse
