Sunday, November 16, 2014

ISIS Claims to Behead U.S. Aid Worker

Omar Ibrahim/Reuters

On Sunday, ISIS released a video claiming to have decapitated U.S. aid worker, Peter Kassig. The beheading is not seen in the 16-minute long video, but a masked militant dressed in black holds a severed head that ISIS claims is Kassig's. The militant speaks with a British accent and appears to be the same one in the four other ISIS videos showing the murders of American and British hostages over the past four months. "This is Peter Edward Kassig, a U.S. citizen, of your country; Peter who fought against the Muslims in Iraq, while serving as a soldier,” said the militant in the video. Kassig served in Iraq before being honorably discharged for medical reasons in 2007. He converted to Islam-Rahman and found a charity to help provide food and medical supplies to Syrian refugees. He was captured by ISIS in October 2013. U.S. officials have not yet confirmed if Kassig was murdered, but sent condolences to his family in Indiana. "If confirmed, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American aid worker and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends," said National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan in a statement.
 

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