The father of the Jordanian pilot, who was captured by ISIS on Wednesday, prayed for mercy and for the radical militants to release his son in an interview with a local website published Thursday.
“I hope god will put mercy in their hearts and they will release my son,” Yusuf al-Kassasbeh told Saraya News.
His son, Maaz, was on a mission Wednesday morning conducted by several Jordanian Air Force planes against ISIS bases in the Raqqa region of Syria. He was taken hostage after his plane went down.
The father also urged Jordanian King Abdullah to do his best to save his 26-year-old son.
He also received a phone call from the head of the Jordanian air force, who reportedly told him: “We are currently working to save [his son’s] life. The king is concerned to save his life.”
At the same time, Kassasbeh urged the king “to bring back” my son, adding “we are all for the country and the king.”
The father described Maaz’s mother as “devastated” over the news of his capture.
Meanwhile, Al-Ghad newspaper reported Thursday that King Abdullah met with the family and promised that he will do his best to save their son.
Maaz al-Kassasbeh shaking hands with Jordan’s King Abdullah
The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but the U.S. military has insisted that the plane was not shot down.
“Evidence clearly indicates that ISIS did not down the aircraft as the terrorist organization is claiming,” said the U.S. Central Command, the body overseeing the coalition air strikes over Iraq and Syria.
Also on Wednesday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the kidnapping of the pilot.
“The secretary noted with concern the news of the downing of a Jordanian plane and of its pilot being taken prisoner,” a statement from the United Nations said.
Images of the pilot being pulled out of a lake and hustled away by masked militants underscored the risks for the U.S. and its Arab and European allies in the air campaign.
