DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — United Arab Emirates fighter planes roared out of an air base in Jordan on Tuesday to pound Islamic State militant positions, marking a return to combat operations by one of the United States’ closest Arab allies in the fight against the extremists.

The Emirates’ decision to launch fresh airstrikes from the kingdom after a more-than-monthlong hiatus was a strong show of support for Western-allied Jordan, which has vowed a punishing response to the militants’ killing of one of its pilots.

It also is likely to quiet concerns in Washington about the oil-rich Emirates’ commitment to the fight.

The seven-state federation, which includes Abu Dhabi and Dubai, stopped conducting airstrikes late last year after Jordanian Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh was captured when his plane crashed behind enemy lines, according to American officials. Al-Kaseasbeh was later burned alive in a cage by the militants.

American defense officials last week said they moved search-and-rescue aircraft closer to the battlefield, helping ease allies’ concerns about the coalition’s ability to aid downed pilots.

The General Command of the UAE Armed Forces said Emirati F-16s carried out a series of strikes Tuesday morning, according to a statement of the Gulf nation’s WAM news agency.

The fighters returned safely back to base after striking their targets, the statement said. It did not elaborate, nor did it say whether the strikes happened in Syria or Iraq. The militants hold roughly a third of each country in a self-declared caliphate.

Previous Emirati airstrikes had been in Syria, making that the most likely target site.

The Emirates had not commented on the suspension of its airstrikes in December, and Tuesday’s statement was the first confirmation it had restarted combat operations.

It has continued to provide logistical support to the campaign by hosting coalition warplanes at its Persian Gulf air bases.

On Saturday, the Emirates announced it was deploying a squadron of F-16s to Jordan.

Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a professor of political science at Emirates University, said the decision to resume flights from Jordan was meant to “send the right message to everybody that the UAE stands by its friends in times of need.”

He predicted the Emirati role in the coalition would be stronger now that it has American assurances about search-and-rescue capabilities.

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