Reports claiming Jordan's King Abdullah II is participating in combat missions against the Islamic State are false.
After the release of the ISIS video which showed the terrorists burning a captured Jordanian pilot alive, King Abdullah vowed to wage a "relentless war" against the jihadist group till the country is out of fuel and bullets.
Soon after, several Iraqi news outlets started reporting that the Jordanian King, who is also a trained pilot, is personally conducting air strikes against ISIS militants.
Iraqi news sources - Shafaqna news and Iraqinews.com - cited informed sources claiming that King Abdullah is flying sorties to bomb ISIS targets in Raqqa. However, soon it was revealed that the report was a hoax.
After the reports went viral on the internet, an official of the Jordanian government told Al Arabiya News that King Abdullah was not flying missions against the terrorist group himself and is not even planning to do so.
The official also stated that King Abdullah was not a fighter pilot, but a trained combatant, part of the parachute brigade and flies civilian planes and helicopters. However, he is the commander-in-chief of the Jordanian Air Force, he said.
The hoax seems to have originated after the official Facebook page of The Royal Hashemite Court, posted an image of King Abdullah in a combat suit. The image was soon shared and retweeted by many as proof that the king himself was "suiting up" to fight ISIS.
Twitter Reaction on King Abdullah Flying Fighter Jets, Bombing ISIS
Photos of King Abdullah's first personal air attack on ISIS! pic.twitter.com/w7SwoHR1Qx
— EnaLolena (@EnaLolena) February 5, 2015
Layan المسخمطة @AbusaleemLayan said:
I've never been prouder to be Jordanian wallah!
You're the boss ❤ Allah yhmek❤ #KingAbdullah
Live From Mogadishu @Daudoo said:
King Abdullah of #Jordan, himself a pilot, may personally take part in bombing raids on #ISIS targets - Media reports "
Islam Alhassn @Balagafieh
#KingAbdullah that's something make me proud. Our King will practice in Airfoce against terrorist in #Syria
Baibars Abou Fadel @KeepingtheLeith
What a joke! King Abdullah took part in the bombings of Mosul! He needed a booster seat to see through the windshield
