'The Islamic State will slaughter your people in your streets': New 'Jihadi John' threat to Britain and the US in latest horrific ISIS video which claims to show beheaded American aid worker
UPDATED
Peter Kassig, 26, an aid worker and former U.S. soldier, was
originally paraded at the end of a video released in October (right)
showing the murder of Briton Alan Henning. A severed head said to Mr
Kassig's was shown in a near 16-minute long Islamic State propaganda
video (left) which also showed the graphic mass murder of dozens of
Syrian soldiers and airmen. Mr Kassig (centre) was captured in Syria in
October last year while providing medical training and humanitarian aid
to victims of the country's conflict.








'The Islamic State will slaughter your people in your streets': New 'Jihadi John' threat to Britain and the US in latest horrific ISIS video which claims to show beheaded American aid worker
- Peter Kassig's murder not shown but a severed head said to be his is seen
- Mr Kassig was a former U.S. soldier turned aid worker in Syria
- Video also shows the graphic execution of dozens of Syrian soldiers
- Prime Minister says he's 'horrified by the cold blooded murder'
- White House says intelligence agencies are examining the video
A
masked jihadist today issued a chilling threat to the West in a video
purporting to show the severed head of a U.S. aid worker and a mass
murder of Syrian soldiers.
Speaking
in the now-familiar London accent of Islamic State
executioner-cum-spokesman Jihadi John, the militant issues the
bloodcurdling threat in the group's latest propaganda video.
Later
in the same video, which emerged today, it is claimed that another
Western hostage, the aid worker and former U.S. army ranger Peter
Kassig, has also been executed.
New threat: A
masked killer who may be the same man seen in previous Islamic State
execution videos, a Briton known as Jihadi John, issued a chilling
threat before the mass murder of Syrian airmen in this clip
A
severed head said to Mr Kassig's is shown at the end of the near
16-minute long clip, which was uploaded to video sharing sites and
publicised via Twitter.
But
it is at the beginning of an earlier scene, showing the graphic mass
murder of Syrian air force personnel, that the masked militant issues
his threat against civilians in the U.S. and UK.
It
shows the men led to a place in the desert by bearded, uniformed jihadis
who each pick up a knife which they will use to saw the heads off their
victims.
As
militants stand in a row with their hostages kneeling in front of them,
Jihadi John says: ‘To Obama, the dog of Rome. Today we are slaughtering
the soldiers of Bashar and tomorrow we will be slaughtering your
soldiers.
'And
with Allah’s permission we will break this final and last crusade. And
the Islamic State will soon, like your puppet David Cameron said, begin
to slaughter your people in your streets.’
'Murdered': Peter Kassig in front of a
truck somewhere along the Syrian border between late 2012 and autumn
2013 as Special Emergency Response and Assistance (SERA) was delivering
supplies to refugees
Prime
Minister David Cameron said he was 'horrified by the cold
blooded murder' of US hostage Peter Kassig, and claimed that Islamic
State militants 'have again shown their depravity'.
The White House says U.S. intelligence agencies are trying to determine the authenticity whether the video is real.
National
Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan says that if the video
is authentic, the White House would be 'appalled by the brutal murder of
an innocent American.'
She says the White House expresses its deepest condolences to Mr Kassig's family and friends.
Mr
Kassig's family, in the U.S. state of Indiana, said they were awaiting
confirmation of the reports about their 'treasured son' and had nothing
more to say at this time.
Mr
Kassig was captured in Syria in October last year while providing
medical training and humanitarian aid to victims of the country's
conflict. He had converted to Islam during his captivity and taken the
name Abdul-Rahman.
Previous
beheading videos showed a desert landscape but in this latest release
appears to be in front of a town with fields in the distance.
Mr
Kassig's apparent murder is not shown. At the end of the video, which
intersperses various executions with file footage of U.S. forces in Iraq
and later clips of Islamic State battles, a bloodied, decapitated head
is shown at the feet of a militant wearing khaki boots.
Above
him stands a masked militant who may be Jihadi John, the man believed
be from Britain who wielded the knife in four previous murders of
Western hostages.
His
voice sounds similar to the voice of the masked militant who has
featured in previous videos. He has what sounds like a London accent
despite his voice being distorted to make it more difficult to identify
him.
A
dateline on the video says it has been shot in Dabiq, which is the
location where Islamic State militants believe a decisive final battle
will be fought with Western forces.
Boasts: A severed head said to be that
of Mr Kassig is shown on the ground in this location, said to be Dabiq,
which is where Islamic State militants believe a final decisive battle
will be fought with Western forces
Last seen: Mr Kassig paraded at the end of the video which showed the killing of aid worker Alan Henning
He
says: '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
under the American army, doesn't have much to say. His previous cell
mates have already spoken on his behalf.
'But
we say to you Obama ... you claim to have withdrawn from Iraq four
years ago. We said to you then that you are liars, that you have not
withdrawn and that if you had withdrawn that you would return, even if
after some time.
'You
would return. Here you are. You have not withdrawn. Rather, you hid
some of your forces behind your proxies and withdrawn the rest. Your
forces will return, greater in number than they were before.
'You will return and your proxies will not benefit you.
'And
we also remind you of the haunting words that our Sheikh Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi told you. The spark has been lit here in Iraq and its heat
will continue to intensify by Allah's permission until it burns the
crusader army in Dabiq.
'And here we are, burying the first crusader in Dabiq. Eagerly awaiting for the remainder of your armies to arrive.'
The
video also shows Jihadi John leading the mass execution of Syrian
military personnel by jihadis at a desert location. Unlike the apparent
murders of Western hostages, in which the camera cuts away at the moment
their throats are cut, these killings are shown in full.
Unsettling: The
video also shows the mass murder of Syrian military personnel by
beheading led by Jihadi John at a desert location. Unlike the murder of
Western hostages, the killing of the Syrians is shown in full
Bloodthirsty: The video shows in full graphic detail how the militants saw the heads off their victims
Mr
Kassig's parents broke their silence over his captivity last month
because 'the dynamics' had changed and they feared for his life.
Their
son had formed the aid organisation Special Emergency Response and
Assistance, or SERA, in Turkey to provide aid and assistance to Syrian
refugees.
He
began delivering food and medical supplies to Syrian refugee camps in
2012 and was also a trained medical assistant who provided trauma care
to injured Syrian civilians and helped train 150 civilians in providing
medical aid.
Paula
and Ed Kassig said they had been doing all they could to free their son
but were silent about his plight for a year at the instructions of the
IS militants. Mr Kassig told U.S. show CBS This Morning: 'They demand.
They simply demand.'
His
wife added: 'We have sent them back messages that we cannot do what you
ask. We have tried. But we don't have the power to do it.'
Their son was born Peter but changed his name to Abdul-Rahman following his conversion to Islam while in captivity.
Aid: Mr Kassig in front of a truck somewhere along the Syrian border between late 2012 and autumn 2013
'They demand. They simply demand':
Paula and Ed Kassig said they had been doing all they could to free
their 26-year-old son but were silent about his plight for a year at the
instructions of the IS militants
Paula
Kassig told NBC's Today show that the couple received an audio
recording of their son in which he said he thought his time was running
out.
The
couple also released excerpts from a letter written by Peter in which
he feared 'it may very well be coming down to the wire here'.
The latest video is the fourth time this year that IS has published footage showing the murder of Western hostages.
The
beheading of American journalist James Foley was released online in
August, while videos of the killings of British aid workers David Haines
and Alan Henning were posted in September and October, respectively.
A
British Muslim leader condemned the latest killing. Shaukat Warraich,
editor of Imamsonline.com, said: 'The murder of Abdul-Rahman Kassig is
an affront to Islam. The murderous criminals are a stain on humanity
and their wicked ways must be stopped.
'To
take the life of another, one whose life has been dedicated to
providing aid to our brothers and sisters suffering in Syria, Iraq and
the surrounding regions further highlights the inhumane,
revolting and unIslamic terrorists for what they really are.'
Former prime minister Sir John Major described the murder as '13th-century barbarism'.
He
told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show: 'The people they are murdering, which
makes it doubly worse, triply worse, are people who actually went there
to help those in difficulty and in need.
'They are being murdered in the most brutal ways, almost beyond belief.'
On
whether Britain is in a position to do something about the situation,
Sir John added: 'I don't think we can do all that much about it alone,
but can we contribute to helping other people to do something about it -
I think the answer is undoubtedly yes.
'Though
unless we want the old argument that the crusaders have come in to
attack, we really need to support other Arabs on the ground and use our
power in other ways to help them - surveillance, training, provide
weapons and so forth - I think that is a proper role for us.'
Shadow
foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said: 'If this video is
authenticated, all of us in the UK will feel revulsion at this latest
sickening murder. It only emphasises the scale of the threat posed by
Isil and the importance of the international community working together
to confront that threat.'
The
militant Islamic State group has beheaded and shot dead hundreds of
captives - mainly Syrian and Iraqi soldiers - during its sweep across
the two countries, and has celebrated mass killings in a series of
slickly produced but extremely graphic videos.
The
group has declared an Islamic caliphate in the areas under its control
in Syria and Iraq, which it governs according to a harsh version of
Shariah law.
The
U.S. began launching air strikes in Iraq and Syria earlier this year in
a bid to halt the group's rapid advance and eventually degrade and
destroy it.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário