The father of a Jordanian air force pilot killed on Wednesday by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group has said that his country's execution of two Iraqis – convicted earlier on terrorism charges – was not enough to avenge his slain son.
In remarks to Jordanian state television, Safi al-Kasasba, father of slain pilot Moaz al-Kasasba, urged Jordan – along with a U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition to which Jordan belongs – to eradicate the militant group with a series of "strong blows."
"If the ISIL isn't eliminated, it will turn the whole region upside-down, as it draws its members from all over the world," the elder al-Kasasba, who appeared composed, declared.
Earlier Wednesday, the Jordanian authorities executed two Iraqi nationals – Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziyad al-Karbouli – who had been on death row in Jordan for years after being convicted of terrorism in 2006.
Both were hanged shortly after the appearance of a video purportedly showing the pilot's execution by the ISIL.
The militant group had earlier demanded the release of al-Rishawi – who was sentenced to death in Jordan following a spate of deadly bombings in Amman in 2005 – in exchange for the Jordanian pilot's release.
Al-Karbouli, a top aide of slain Al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was also hanged on Wednesday in line with a death sentence issued in 2007 following his conviction on terrorism charges.
The slain pilot's father, however, says the twin executions are not enough.
"The execution of al-Rishawi and al-Karbouli are not enough to avenge my son," he asserted. "Both of them entered the country on terrorist missions and they deserved to die."
The younger al-Kasasba was captured by ISIL militants after his fighter plane crashed in the Syrian city of Raqqa last December.
Jordanian authorities had tried to secure the pilot's release, but the ISIL had made this conditional on al-Rishawi's release.
Last summer, the ISIL captured large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, killing thousands of people in the process. It later declared the captured territories to be part of a self-styled "Islamic caliphate."
Since the group captured the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in June of last year, a U.S.-led coalition – which includes Jordan – has carried out numerous airstrikes against ISIL targets in both Iraq and Syria.
