Jordan has executed two Iraqi militants in response to ISIS killing a captured Jordanian pilot with fire.
Sajida al-Rishawi, the Iraqi woman militant, was sentenced to death for her role in a 2005 suicide bomb attack that killed 60 people. Ziyad Karboli, an Iraqi al Qaeda operative, who was convicted in 2008 for killing a Jordanian, was also executed at dawn, the source said.
Jordanian defense officials had promised retribution.
According to Habib, an army spokesperson promised that Jordan's response will "be at the level of disaster." Conflict News reported that an army spokesperson said that the country's "revenge will be of the size of the anger of the Jordanian people," which is apparently considerable: Habib is reporting a general mood of "anger, disgust" and "calls for revenge."
It's natural that the Jordanian monarchy would want to channel outrage over Kasasbe's death into more assertive anti-ISIS policies. According to the Soufan Group, nearly 2,100 Jordanians have traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State. Jordan shares borders with both countries and hosts over 747,000 refugees from the conflict in Syria.
The country has remained remarkably stable in spite of having deep national fissures of its own, with a royal family identified with the country's Bedouin minority ruling over a majority-Palestinian population.
But Jordan's options may be limited. The country had grounded its pilots after Kasasbe's capture and was thought to mostly play an intelligence-gathering role when it joined Operation Inherent Resolve.
With public opinion inside the kingdom split over cooperation in the anti-ISIS coalition and the kingdom beset with internal concerns, executing terrorism-related prisoners may be the monarchy's most expedient way of sating popular anger and getting back at the group while also papering over its lack of other options for the time being.
SEE ALSO: Why young western women are being drawn to ISIS
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: The Taiwan Navy Just Unveiled A Stealth Missile Warship Dubbed The 'Carrier-Killer'