A new video has emerged apparently showing the beheading of a Western hostage by militants fighting for the so-called Islamic State.
Peter Kassig, 26, an aid worker and former U.S. soldier, was originally paraded at the end of a video released in October showing the murder of Briton Alan Henning.
A severed head said to Mr Kassig's was shown at the end of a near 16-minute long propaganda video which also showed the graphic mass murder of dozens of Syrian soldiers and airmen.
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'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
It shows the men led to a place in the desert by uniformed jihadis who each pick up a knife before using them to saw off the heads of their victims. The militants warn that U.S. soldiers will meet a similar fate.
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.
ISLAMIC STATE'S WESTERN VICTIMS
James Foley - this 40-year-old American freelance photojournalist was documenting the Syrian civil war when he was snatched in November 2012 in the country's north west. His murder was shown in a video released in August.
Steven Sotloff - an Israeli-American journalist working for both TIME and The Jerusalem Post who was kidnapped in Aleppo, Syria, in 2013. The 31-year-old's apparent beheading was shown in a video released on September 2.
David Haines - the 44-year-old British humanitarian aid worker was taken hostage while working at a refugee camp in Idlib, Syria, near the Turkish border. His abduction only became public when he appeared in the Sotloff execution video. He was apparently killed on camera in a video released on September 13.
Alan Henning - this volunteer aide worker from Britain, 47, had been working with Islamic charities to deliver food and water to people affected by Syria's civil war. He was abducted in the city of Al-Dana when that area fell under the control of Islamic State fighters in December 2013. A video showing his apparent murder was released on October 3.
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.
David Cameron outlines plans to 'confront' extremism
TIMELINE OF BRUTAL ISLAMIC STATE KILLINGS
By Neil Lancefield, Press Association
The murder of US aid worker Peter Kassig was the fifth such killing to be filmed and released by the Islamic State (IS). Here is a timeline of events, starting with the days leading up to the death of the first hostage, US journalist James Foley.
Summer 2014 - A rescue mission fails to free Mr Foley from a secret location where he is being held by IS. The American freelance journalist, 40, was captured two years earlier.
August 13: Mr Foley's family receive a message that he will be murdered.
August 19: al-Furqan Media, which is controlled by the terror group, releases a video appearing to show Mr Foley's killing. His death apparently happened at some time in the previous week. Social media bosses are forced to act swiftly in banning both the video and still images of the beheading, while concerns mount for fellow reporter and captive Steven Sotloff, who is seen pleading for the US to stop air strikes in Iraq at the end of the video.
August 20: David Cameron cuts short a family holiday in Cornwall to hold meetings in Downing Street over the 'shocking and depraved' murder. Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama remains defiant over his country's war on terror. He says: 'We will be vigilant and we will be relentless.'
August 21: The killer is reported to be a British man who goes under the moniker 'Jihadi John'.
September 2: Mr Cameron condemns the 'disgusting and despicable' video apparently showing Mr Sotloff wearing an orange jumpsuit and being beheaded by IS militants. The alleged killer speaks with a British accent, prompting suggestions he is the man who murdered Mr Foley. It emerges that a British hostage, now known to be aid worker David Haines, is also under threat.
September 4: At the start of a Nato summit in Wales, leaders of the Western alliance show a united front in response to terror threats. Mr Cameron and Mr Obama insist they will not weaken in the face of threats from IS terrorists. The Prime Minister refuses to rule out joining the US in air strikes on IS. He says Britain must 'use everything we have in our armoury' to squash the terrorists out of existence.
September 5: Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond joins Mr Cameron in saying the Government will not hold back on launching air strikes, and says threats on Mr Haines's life by his captors will not deter the UK from taking action. The Nato summit ends with a pledge to 'degrade and defeat' IS militants.
September 9: Defence Secretary Michael Fallon confirms Britain will supply £1.6 million of machine guns and ammunition to Kurdish forces fighting IS militants in northern Iraq as part of a burgeoning international effort to drive back the jihadists.
September 10: Mr Obama authorises air strikes inside Syria for the first time as well as an expansion of strikes in Iraq.
September 13: A video showing the murder of British aid worker Mr Haines is released. The video, which involves the 44-year-old saying Mr Cameron and former PM Tony Blair should be held responsible for his death, is widely condemned. It comes hours after Mr Haines's family issue a plea to his captors to contact them. The clip also includes a threat to kill a second British hostage.
September 14: Mr Cameron calls an emergency meeting of its Cobra committee in the wake of the murder. The next British hostage, 47-year-old minicab driver Alan Henning, is named as the man shown in the video.
September 19: Islamic militants release a propaganda video featuring a British hostage believed to be journalist John Cantlie.
September 23: Islamic extremists release a new propaganda video appearing to feature Mr Cantlie. The clip is the second showing the journalist to be circulated by IS militants in less than a week. It comes as the US - backed by Arab allies - carries out its first wave of air strikes on IS militants in Syria.
September 24: Britain appears ready to ramp up its military involvement in the struggle against IS, as Mr Cameron addresses the United Nations in New York.
September 25: FBI director James Comey is reported to have confirmed that the identity of Jihadi John has been uncovered. However, he refused to give the individual's name publicly.
September 26: MPs vote by 524 to 43 to endorse attacks on the militants in Iraq in support of the United States-led coalition. The vote clears the way for RAF warplanes stationed in Cyprus to begin combat operations as soon as suitable targets are identified.
September 27: RAF Tornado GR4 fighter bombers carry out their first sortie over Iraq since Parliament gave the green light for air strikes without finding any targets to attack.
October 3: A video showing the brutal murder of Mr Henning, 47, by IS militants is posted on the internet. Mr Cameron vows to 'hunt down' the 'repulsive' terrorists responsible for the beheading.
October 7: Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg claims he offered to help the Government secure the release of Mr Henning but was rebuffed. Mr Begg says he believed he knew those who held the murdered aid worker and had helped secure the release of hostages from extremists in Syria in the past.
October 13: Mr Cantlie's sister urges IS to 'restart dialogue' with his family.
November 16: IS releases a video showing the beheading of American hostage Peter Kassig. The IS militant in the footage speaks with a London accent and appears to be Jihadi John. Mr Kassig was captured in Syria in October 2013 while providing medical training and humanitarian aid to victims of the country's conflict.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2836392/Islamic-State-releases-new-video-claiming-execution-kidnapped-aid-worker.html#ixzz3JEgJbXnj
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