Jordan Executes Convicted Jihadists After Pilot’s Death

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Jordan has executed two convicts, among which is a female jihadist, following the execution of one of its air force pilots by Islamic State (IS) militants. The woman is Sajida al-Rishawi, a failed suicide bomber and al-Qaeda operative Ziyad Karboli – both Iraqi nationals – were hanged at dawn, officials said. BBC has more:

The executions came hours after IS posted a video appearing to show pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burned alive.

He was seized after crashing during an anti-IS mission over Syria in December.

Jordan had attempted to secure Lt Kasasbeh’s release in a swap involving Rishawi, but IS is believed to have killed him a month ago.

The militants initially sought Rishawi’s release as part of a deal to free captive Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, but later killed him.

Rishawi had been on death row for her role in attacks in Jordan’s capital, Amman, which killed 60 people in 2005. Karboli was convicted in 2008 of killing a Jordanian national.

The two prisoners were executed at 04:00 local time (02:00 GMT), government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said on Wednesday morning.