The United States plans to increase aid to Jordan by $1 billion per year to help alleviate the cost of dealing with fallout from the Islamic State group in the region.
Tuesday’s announcement, which would add to $660 million already sent to the U.S. ally, came on the same day that video released by the terrorist group showed the killing of Jordanian pilot Muath Al-Kaseasbeh. The captive, who had been held by the Sunni radicals since December, was burned alive.
The new U.S. aid plan, which must be approved by Congress, would fund fiscal 2015, 2016 and 2017, Reuters reported.
“The United States recognizes Jordan’s increased immediate needs resulting from regional unrest, the efforts Jordan is undertaking at the forefront of the fight against [the Islamic State] and other extremist ideology and terrorism, the influx of refugees from Syria and Iraq, the disruption of foreign energy supplies, and other unprecedented strains,” the State Department said in a statement released Tuesday, Reuters reported.
President Obama condemned the killing of Jordanian pilot, calling it “just one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity of this group. … Whatever ideology they’re operating off of, it’s bankrupt.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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