JORDANIAN warplanes bombed unidentified Islamic State (Isis) targets yesterday after King Abdullah vowed to wage a “harsh” war against the jihadists who control large areas of neighbouring Syria and Iraq.

State TV, quoting military officials, reported that the strikes had hit Isis positions but did not say in which country.

Jordan is part of the US-led military coalition that has bombed Isis targets in both countries since last autumn, but Jordanian warplanes are known to have carried out raids so far only in Syria.

The king pledged to step up the fight against Isis after its members burned a captive Jordanian pilot in a cage and released a video of the killing earlier this week.

He paid a condolence visit yesterday to the family of the pilot, Lt Muath al-Kaseasbeh, in his village in southern Jordan. 

The murdered pilot’s father, Safi al-Kaseasbeh, told mourners that planes had hit Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Isis self-declared caliphate.