‘IS cannot prove US hostage was killed in Jordanian raid’

AMMAN — Jordan on Saturday said there is no proof that an American aid worker captured in 2013 by the so-called Islamic State (IS) was killed during the raids led by the Kingdom over Raqqa.

Kayla Mueller is a US aid worker who was captured by IS in 2013. On Friday, the terror group said she was killed in one of Jordan’s air strikes on Raqqa.

Over the past three days the Kingdom led several air attacks against IS targeting “centres of gravity” which also resulted in killing tens of the terrorist group’s members.

“We think these claims are illogical and we are highly sceptical about it,” Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani told The Jordan Times referring to IS’ allegations.

He questioned IS’ ability to identify Jordanian warplanes as they flew at a high altitude.

“How could they identify Jordanian warplanes from a far distance in the sky, and what was the American lady doing in a weapons depot?” the minister asked.

He stressed that claims are part of IS’ criminal propaganda. “They have lied about our pilot [Muath Kasasbeh] and tried to negotiate a deal, claiming he was alive while had killed him weeks before.”

According to news reports, US authorities had yet to authenticate IS’ claims as well.

In a related development, an activist said the young American hostage was condemned to death by the militant group last year.

Reuters quoted Muslim activist Mauri Saalakhan as saying that IS seized aid worker Mueller in 2013 in northern Syria and initially gave her a “life sentence” in retaliation for the jailing in Texas of a Pakistani woman whose case is a well-known cause among Islamist militants.