U.S. Targets Islamic State Stronghold In Syria, Activists Say

Activist groups announced this week that the U.S. military carried out multiple airstrikes on the Islamic Sate stronghold of Raqqa recently.

According to the activist group Raqqa is Silently Being Slaughtered, at least 13 U.S.-led coalition strikes were carried out on Raqqa, including targeting the Division 17 military base. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees also confirmed these attacks.

The numerous airstrikes come shortly after the Islamic State announced that it had successfully captured a Jordanian pilot after his fighter plane went down near Raqqa.

An interview in the Islamic State's English magazine Dabiq indicates that the terrorist group successfully captured 26-year-old First Lieutenant Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh, who says in the interview that his bomber plane was allegedly shot down by a heat sinking missile.

"My plane was struck by a heat-seeking missile. I heard and felt its hit. The other Jordanian pilot in the mission – the first lieutenant pilot Saddām Mardīnī – contacted me from a participating jet and told me that I was struck and that fire was coming out of the rear nozzle of my engine," Kaseasbeh said in the purported interview.

"I checked the system display and it indicated that the engine was damaged and burning. The plane began to deviate from its normal flight path, so I ejected," the pilot continued.

"I landed in the Furāt River by parachute and the seat caught on some ground, keeping me fixed, until I was captured by soldiers of the Islamic State," the pilot added.