Islamic State militants fighting in Iraq and Syria released a video on Monday (February 9) apparently showing captive British journalist John Cantlie “reporting” from Syria’s largest city of Aleppo. The documentary-style 12 minute video was posted on social media sites. It is called ‘Inside Aleppo’ and features Cantlie touring the city, which he calls by its ancient name, Haleb. Speaking directly to the camera, a pale looking Cantlie, dressed in a brown jacket and black […]
Tag: Islamic State
Islamic State says beheads Japanese hostage Goto, Japan vows justice
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned on Sunday (February 1) the apparent killing of journalist Kenji Goto by Islamic State, after the militant group released a video purporting to show the beheading of the veteran war correspondent. Islamic State insurgents said on Saturday (January 31) they had killed Goto, after the apparent failure of sustained international efforts to secure his release through a prisoner swap. The video showed a hooded man standing over Goto with […]
Islamic State attacks Kurdish outposts in Kirkuk
Islamic State militants struck at Kurdish forces in the northern province of Kirkuk on Friday (January 30). Police said Islamic State launched mortars and attacked positions of Kurdish fighters in four districts southwest of Kirkuk city. Militants later detonated a car bomb at a disused hotel in Kirkuk city centre and clashed with peshmerga forces. Kurdish forces later found the body of a militant in the hotel and threw the body over a balcony down […]
Family of Jordan pilot held by Islamic State hopeful he is alive
Friends and family members of a Jordanian pilot being held by Islamic State said on Friday (January 30) they believe he is still alive. They gathered in capital Amman, seeking information about his fate, a day after the deadline passed for the release of an Iraqi prisoner in Jordan. An audio message purportedly from a Japanese journalist also captured by the insurgents said the pilot would be killed “immediately” unless Jordan released Sajida al-Rishawi, who […]
Jordan, Japan seek news of Islamic State prisoners
Japan and Jordan scramble to find out what has happened to two of their nationals being held by Islamic State, after a deadline passed for the release of a would-be suicide bomber being held on death row in Amman. On Friday evening (January 30) Japanese deputy foreign minister Yasuhide Nakayama told reporters in Amman, where he is anchoring Japan’s on-the-ground response, that saving journalist Kenji Goto was Japan’s “only purpose”. “As everyone knows quite well, […]
ISIS attack in Tripoli wounds one Filipino
The Philippine embassy in Libya reported that only one Filipino was injured in the attack of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in a hotel in Tripoli.
Analyst says video of Japanese hostages is manipulated
A video released online on Tuesday (January 20), purporting to show two Japanese captives being held by the Islamic State, gives clues about the type of technology the militant group is using and raises suspicions that the video is highly manipulated, according to a group that analyzes militant violence. The clip showed a figure wearing black clothing and holding a knife, standing along with two kneeling men wearing orange clothes. The man, with his face […]
Japanese reporter’s bid to save friend led to Islamic State abduction
(Reuters) – It is an unlikely friendship that ties the fates of war correspondent Kenji Goto and troubled loner Haruna Yukawa, the two Japanese hostages for which Islamic State militants demanded a $200 million ransom this week. Yukawa was captured in August outside Aleppo. Goto, who had returned to Syria in late October to try to help his friend, had been missing since then. For Yukawa, who dreamed of becoming a military contractor, traveling to […]
Hagel, under pressure, resigns as U.S. defense secretary
(Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel resigned on Monday, leaving under pressure as President Barack Obama faces critical national security challenges, including fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and revising plans to exit Afghanistan. It was the first major change to Obama’s Cabinet since his Democrats were routed in midterm elections three weeks ago, and Republicans, who now control both houses of Congress, are looking for a new approach from the White house. Hagel […]
Three French IS fighters call on fellow country men to join them
Three French fighters in the Islamic State (IS) urged Muslims among their fellow countrymen to travel to Iraq or Syria to join the group, in a recently released video taped message titled “What Are You Waiting For? In footage that was posted on a social media website, the men are seen burning their passports and then sitting together as they give speeches. The three speakers were identified on the video as Abu Osama al-Faranci, Abu Maryam al-Faranci, and Abu Salman al-Faranci. Reuters […]
Families in shock as Islamic State lures sons into ‘barbaric madness’
(Reuters) – “Do you know how much it hurts to raise someone and watch them grow and suddenly they’re just gone?” says Ahmed Muthana, 57, a retired electronics engineer in Wales whose two sons Nasser, 20, and Aseel, 17, have gone to fight for Islamic State. Like any father of faraway children, he can easily slip into a reverie, talking about the studious older son who was accepted into medical school and his more rambunctious and athletic […]
Frenchman seen in Islamic State beheading video
(Reuters) – A Frenchman is believed to have appeared in a video of Islamic State jihadists beheading Syrian soldiers and displaying the severed head of U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig, but a British man denied earlier reports that his medical student son was there too. Sunday’s announcement of Kassig’s death, the fifth such killing of a Western captive by Islamic State, formed part of the video which also showed the beheadings of at least 14 […]
