Leaders ‘horrified’ by latest Islamic State beheadings
US, British intelligence investigating authenticity of video purportedly showing corpse of American aid worker
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LONDON — International leaders condemned the “barbaric” beheading of US aid worker Peter Kassig and Syrian soldiers in a propaganda video released by the Islamic State terrorist group Sunday.
“I’m horrified by the cold blooded murder of Abdul-Rahman Kassig,” British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote on Twitter. “ISIL have again shown their depravity. My thoughts are with his family.”
Kassig became known as Abdul-Rahman after converting to Islam.
Cameron called Kassig “a selfless humanitarian worker who had gone to the region to help” and said that the assumed killing “underlines the deplorable depths to which these terrorists are prepared to go.”
Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in a statement that he “condemns this new barbaric act. This deed reinforces France’s determination to act against Daesh in Iraq and Syria,” using another name for the IS group.
The IS video, which is being examined by US intelligence officials and Britain’s Foreign Office, also showed the gruesome simultaneous beheadings of at least 18 men described as Syrian military personnel, the latest in a series of mass executions carried out by IS militants.
The British government meanwhile has said it is looking into a newspaper report that “Jihadi John,” a British-accented man who appeared in previous videos showing the killings of two US journalists and two British aid workers, had been injured in a US-led air strike last week.
The Times of Israel Community.