One of the convicts hanged, according to the Jordanian government, was Sajida al-Rishawi, a would-be suicide bomber whose release ISIS had previously demanded as part of a prisoner exchange.
The other was Ziad Karbouli, a former top aide to the deceased leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Their deaths followed the horrific footage released Tuesday by ISIS that showed the Jordanian pilot, Moath al-Kasasbeh, being burned alive while confined in a cage.
CNN is not showing images of al-Kasasbeh’s killing, which drew global condemnation and prompted protests and vows of retaliation in Jordan.
Amid calls for unity from Jordanian authorities, people rallying in the streets of Amman, the capital, and in the pilot’s hometown directed their anger at ISIS.
One demonstrator held a poster that read: “They burned our hearts, so let’s burn their dens, and their prisoners in our prisons.”
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“I firmly ask whomever has sent Moath to fight outside the borders of Jordan, on a mission unrelated to us, to make strong efforts to bring back Moath,” he said.
“Moath’s blood is precious, it’s precious and it represents the blood of all Jordanians.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry described al-Kasasbeh as everything he says ISIS is not: “He was brave, compassionate and principled.”
“That he was murdered after his father’s plea for compassion reminds all the world that this foe has no agenda other than to kill and destroy, and places no value on life, including that of fellow Muslims,” Kerry said.
CNN’s Greg Botelho, Dana Ford, Ed Payne, Caroline Faraj, Jessica King, Samira Said and Ali Younes contributed to this report.
