Jordan’s King Abdullah Did Not Personally Fly Airstrikes On ISIS

The former fighter pilot monarch remains kind of a badass, though.

posted on Feb. 6, 2015, at 5:46 a.m.

Claudia Koerner

BuzzFeed News Reporter

 

 

 

 

 

Jordan’s King Abdullah announced he was cutting short a visit to the U.S. following the brutal death of a Jordanian pilot burned to death by Isis.

Sometimes called the “Warrior King,” it wasn’t long before rumors began spreading that his majesty was going to take care of business — personally.

Via Twitter: @josephbraude

The images spread on social media…

…and prompted some meme-based political commentary.

It made a great story, but it wasn’t true, the Jordanian government said. Airstrikes did hit targets in Syria, but the king was not in the pilot’s seat.

A bomb with Koranic verses is pictured on a Royal Jordanian Air Force plane at an air base before its launch to strike the Islamic state in the Syrian city of Raqqa on Thursday. Petra / Reuters

Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told CNN Thursday the rumors of the king personally launching airstrikes on ISIS targets were “creative,” but untrue.

Actually, the king was involved in some more conventional leadership. He met with officials and security leaders.

And he offered condolences to the family of the slain pilot.

facebook.com

The cockpit image appears to be from an October charity event, when he piloted a helicopter for children with cancer.

youtube.com

Which, is actually pretty cool too.

Via youtube.com