Jordanian minister says airstrikes against IS 'beginning of our retaliation' for pilot's execution

Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh has said that the country's airstrikes on Islamic State (IS) militants are "the beginning of our retaliation" for the recent execution of captured Jordanian pilot.

According to BBC, Judeh said that Jordan is going after IS militants with "everything we have".

Jordan had earlier bombed various sites in Syria but Judeh said that the country will also target the group in Iraq now.

Before the killing of the Jordanian pilot, IS militants released a video online that showed the pilot standing in a cage engulfed in flames, even before a prisoner swap could take place.

Jordanian King Abdullah II has also vowed to step up the fight against IS.

Those strikes hit IS units near the Syrian town of Kobane, and in seven Iraqi cities including Fallujah, Kirkuk and Mosul, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement.

Jordan is one of four Arab states to have taken part in the anti-IS air strikes in Syria.