Father of Jordanian pilot captured by IS urges his release

The father of a Jordanian pilot captured by the Islamic State group in Syria has pleaded for his son's release, reminding militants their captive shared the same faith as the ultra-conservative group.

So far, there has been silence from the extremists about the fate of Lieutenant Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh, since gunmen from the group dragged him away following his crash on Wednesday morning.

Al-Kaseasbeh was carrying out air strikes against the militants when his warplane crashed near the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, the Islamic State group's de facto capital.

The group has executed captured Iraqi and Syrian Muslim soldiers in the past - it follows an extremist version of Islam that considers rivals, even some Sunni Muslims, as apostates. Still, the group may want to negotiate a prisoner swap or other concessions from Jordan.

The pilot's father, Safi Yousef al-Kaseasbeh, made his plea while speaking to journalists in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

"I direct a message to our generous brothers of the Islamic State in Syria: to host my son, the pilot Mu'ath, with generous hospitality," he said. "I ask God that their hearts are gathered together with love, and that he is returned to his family, wife and mother."

"We are all Muslims," he added.

A US-led international coalition has been waging a bombing campaign against the Islamic State group for months, trying to break its control over territory stretching across Syria and Iraq.