Islamic State militants captured a Jordanian pilot after shooting down his warplane while conducting air strikes over Syria, the extremists' first successful downing of an aircraft from the international coalition waging an air campaign against the group.
The show of the extremists' capabilities underscored the risks for the US-led coalition participating in a bombing campaign aimed at pushing back the jihadis' control across much of Syria and Iraq. It also posed Jordan with a nightmare scenario - its pilot is the first foreign soldier to fall into the extremists' hands.
It was not immediately known how the fighters shot down the warplane, but the Islamic State group is known to have stocks of Russian-made Igla anti-aircraft missiles.
Jordanian information minister Mohammad Momani said the plane was shot down by "ground fire" but did not explain further.
Activists monitoring the conflict said Islamic State group fighters shot down the warplane near the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, the group's de facto capital.
The Raqqa Media Centre published a photograph said to be of the pilot - in a white shirt, naked from the waist down and soaking wet - being pulled by gunmen out of what appeared to be a lake. Another picture shows him surrounded by more than a dozen fighters, some of them masked.
The centre said IS fighters are scouring the area in case there is a second pilot.
The United States and several Arab allies have been striking the Islamic State group in Syria since September 23, and US and other international warplanes have been waging an air campaign against the extremists in Iraq for even longer.
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are participating in the Syria strikes, with Qatari logistical support.
Jordan's military said in a statement that as its air force was carrying out a military mission against the Islamic State group this morning, "one of our warplanes crashed".
"The pilot was taken hostage by the Daesh terrorist organisation." Daesh is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.
It said IS and "those who support it" will be responsible for the safety of the pilot. It did not give the cause of the crash or identify the type of aircraft.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had confirmation from activists on the ground that the aircraft was shot down, either by a Russian-made anti-aircraft missile or by heavy machine gun fire.
The Raqqa Media Centre said the plane was downed near the village of Hamra Ghannam outside Raqqa. It posted photos of militants posing with shards of wreckage. It also posted a photo of the pilot's military identification card, identifying him as Mu'ath Safi Yousef al-Kaseasbeh.
The group later showed the plane's glass canopy that was taken to a Raqqa main square where it was placed on the pavement for people to look at.
In Jordan, the pilot's cousin Marwan al-Kaseasbeh confirmed the photos are of his cousin.