Brutal end: IS claims beheading of US aid worker in new video

This is the fifth execution by the militant group in recent months


Afp November 17, 2014

BEIRUT:


The Islamic State (IS) group on Sunday released a video claiming the beheading of US aid worker Peter Kassig in a warning to Washington as it prepares to send more troops to Iraq.


The same video showed the gruesome simultaneous beheadings of at least 18 men described as Syrian military personnel, the latest in a series of mass executions and other atrocities carried out by IS.



In the undated video, a man who appears to be the same British-accented militant who beheaded previous Western hostages stands above a severed head.

“This is Peter Edward Kassig, a US citizen of your country,” the black-clad masked executioner says, urging US President Barack Obama to send more troops back to the region to confront IS.

“Here we are burying the first American crusader in Dabiq, eagerly waiting for the remainder of your armies to arrive,” the militant said, referring to a northern Syrian town.

There was no immediate confirmation from his family of the death of Kassig, a former US soldier who risked his life to provide medical treatment and aid to those suffering from Syria’s civil war.

Kassig would be the fifth Western hostage killed by IS in recent months, after two US reporters and two British aid workers.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was ‘horrified’ by Kassig’s “cold-blooded murder”. “ISIL have again shown their depravity. My thoughts are with his family,” Cameron wrote on Twitter, using an alternative name for IS. The 26-year-old, who converted to Islam and took the first name Abdul-Rahman, was taken captive last year and was threatened in an October 3 video showing the beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning.



The claim of Kassig’s killing came as Washington prepares to double its military personnel in Iraq to up to 3,100 as part of the international campaign it is leading against IS.

The extremist group has seized control of large parts of Iraq and Syria, declared a ‘caliphate’ and imposed its brutal interpretation of Islamic law.

The video released on Sunday also showed a highly choreographed sequence of the beheadings of at least 18 prisoners said to be Syrian officers and pilots loyal to President Bashar al Assad.

Kassig’s parents had pleaded for his release, highlighting his humanitarian work and conversion to Islam.

Kassig had founded an aid group through which he trained some 150 civilians to provide medical aid to people in Syria. His group also gave food, cooking supplies, clothing and medicine to the needy.

He wrote to his parents saying: “If I do die, I figure that at least you and I can seek refuge and comfort in knowing that I went out as a result of trying to alleviate suffering and helping those in need.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2014.

COMMENTS (1)

ivan | 9 years ago | Reply UK and US have already had their citizens beheaded as part of the ISIL aggression in Syria and Iraq. It is truly unthinkable of any human being who would want to kill another by beheading. But this past few months has seen this horrific act being shown to the world, warning the president of the United States that more would be killed if they send more troops to the region. Justified as it may seem, that sending troops to the region is a valid response to the attrocities committed by the militants of ISIL, but this is really a problem of the muslim world, and one of which only the muslim world can resolve. Although IRAN has repeatedly tried to pin this problem to the United States involvment in the region when it invaded IRAQ to force Saddam Hussein out of power (which had been proven to be costly), the stability in IRAQ has never been achieved with outbreaks of violence occurring every now and then. Why must the President of the United States take ownership of this kind of problems? Why can't the problem be left alone and let the muslim world show that they can resolve this problem peacefully, as the militants are also from the muslim world trying to establish another state using islam as it's basis and justification. By taking ownership of this kind of problem will not get America anywhere except to incur more beheadings. Even of the whole world still believes that the beheadings are an atrocious act, but that kind of act stems out of the hidden teachings of Islam, and hence must be sorted out among the islamic world.
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