UN urges IS to treat seized Jordanian pilot ‘humanely’

NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged the Islamic State captors of a Jordanian pilot whose warplane was shot down in northeast Syria to treat him humanely, his spokesman said.
“He (Ban) calls on his captors to treat the pilot in accordance with international humanitarian law,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
He told reporters that Ban was also “deeply concerned with the continued use of violence across the country, including the use of ‘barrel bombs’ in populated areas.” Dujarric noted that the indiscriminate use of such weapons was a violation of international law.
Jordan’s government spokesman Mohammad Al-Momani told satellite TV station Al Hadath the jet fighter “was shot at from the ground by rocket missiles and was brought down” and that an attempt to rescue the pilot before he was captured failed.
The pilot’s father Youssef said the family had been informed by the air force of his capture. He said the military promised it was “working to save his life” and that Jordan’s King Abdallah was following events.