Jordanian intervention in the Syrian Civil War

Background

ISIL sees Jordan's King Abdullah as an enemy of Islam and an infidel, in early June 2014 the organization threathed in an Internet video to "slaughter" Abdullah whom they denounced as a "tyrant". Jordanian ISIL members in the video vowed to launch suicide attacks inside Jordan.

Jordanian motivation for attacking ISIL

On 23 September 2014, Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications, Mohammad Momani, declared: "We took part in the strikes which are part of our efforts to defeat terrorism in its strongholds."

Together with a statement, that same day, of the Jordan Armed Forces, saying their Air Force had at dawn launched strikes against "terrorist groups", and with U.S. announcements that they had begun strikes inside Syria together with partner nations, this brought The Jordan Times to conclude that, apparently, Jordan had joined the US-led strikes against ISIL in Syria.

First Jordanian airstrikes

The Jordanian Air Force joined in the US-led bombing of ISIL in Syria, as of 22 September 2014. Jihadist troops have retaliated by firing into Jordan and there has been increased sniping at the border.

Capture and murder of Lieutenant Al-Kasasbeh

On 24 December 2014, a Jordanian fighter jet was shot down over Syria and the pilot, Jordanian air force Lieutenant Muath Al-Kasasbeh, captured. Before he was burned to death, al-Kasasbeh was made to reveal the names and workplaces of a number of his fellow Royal Jordanian Air Force pilots. Their names and photographs were displayed at the end of the video, with an ISIS bounty offer of 100 gold dinars (approximately $20,000) for each Jordanian Air Force pilot killed.

Most Western media outlets refused to show the full video, sometimes describing it or showing images immediately preceding al-Kasasbeh's immolation. Fox News posted the complete video on its website.

The Jordanian government assessed that al-Kasasbeh was killed by burning on 3 January, rather than 3 February, when the video was released on Twitter. If correct, it would confirm that the ISIS never intended to exchange him for al-Rishawi. Other news reports suggest that he may have been killed a few days later, on 8 January, according to a tweet posted by a Syrian activist from Raqqa that day claiming he saw individuals from ISIS celebrating the death of al-Kasasbeh on 8 January. It was reported that al-Kasasbeh was deprived of food beginning five days before he was killed.

Executions

The terrorists whose release was demanded, Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouli, were executed, at dawn of Wednesday 4 February.

Airstrikes

That same 4 February, Jordanian airstrikes on ISIL positions in Iraq started. The next day, the first of a series of airstrikes on ISIL positions in Syria commenced. King Abdullah paid a condolence call to the pilot's family as the first bombing run in Syria hit its targets. The lower house of Parliament voted to support the war effort.

The rolling air strike campaign, dubbed "Operation Martyr Muath", between 5 and 7 February hit over 56 targets, in and around the Syrian city and ISIL stronghold Raqqa, and it was claimed that 20% of ISIL's "military capabilities" had been destroyed. The number of ISIL casualties was estimated at 7 thousand, although this may have been for the entire coalition since the bombing campaign began the previous summer.

The UAE joins in

The air force of the United Arab Emirates, which had left the coalition when the Lieutenant's jet went down, rejoined the coalition under Jordanian command; they were to be based near Amman. Soon they had joined in for a few bombing runs.

Mobilization

It was announced in the media that "thousands of troops" had been sent to the eastern border with Iraq, which, from time to time, (see map on upper right hand corner) has been occupied by ISIL fighters. This led to speculation that Jordan was preparing an armed invasion of ISIL occupied territory. However, this was later denied by some in the military.

Negotiations with Iraq

On February 12, Khaled al-Obaidi, the Iraqi Defense Minister, announced that "The king of Jordan has requested that all means of the Jordanian armed forces be made available to the Iraqi army," which means that Jordanian ground forces have asked permission to cross into Iraqi territory, in order to assist in a previously announced major offensive. The offer of troops was made again in April.

June/July 2015

On June 28, 2015, rumors began circulating through the press that there was going to be a coordinated attack on Syria by Turkey and Jordan. Reports in major newspapers said that the Turkish and Jordanian militaries would invade from their respective sides of the border and create buffer zones well within Syria.

Domestic criticism

Weekly newspaper Die Zeit, on reportage in Jordan shortly after 4 February 2015, said the war against ISIL is extremely unpopular in Jordan because it is being led by the U.S.

The mayor of Ma'an, a southern Jordanian city known for its often critical stance toward Jordan's national policies, interviewed by Die Zeit, said: "with all due respect for His Majesty (King Abdullah II), but we are never asked anything when such wars are under consideration."

International reaction

While the Assad government indicated that it was okay for Jordan to bomb ISIL, it warned that ground troops were out of the question. "We will not allow anyone to violate our national sovereignty and we do not need any ground troops to fight Daesh," Syrian foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said.

The NGOs Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International denounced the executions of the terrorists, and demanded an end to hostilities.