White House Confirms Authenticity of Video Showing Execution of American Peter Kassig at Hands of ISIS
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Courtesy Kassig Family(NEW YORK) — The White House confirmed the authenticity of a video showing the beheading of American hostage Peter Kassig in new video posted online.
Kassig, the fifth Western hostage ISIS has claimed to have killed, changed his name to Abdul Rahman after converting to Islam, according to his parents. The aid worker and former Army Ranger was abducted in October 2013 while traveling to a town in eastern Syria.
A statement from President Barack Obama called the murder “an act of pure evil by a terrorist group that the world rightly associates with inhumanity.” He also noted that “[ISIS’] actions represent no faith, least of all the Muslim faith which Abdul-Rahman adopted as his own.”
Towards the end of the nearly 16-minute video, a militant stands over a severed head, saying, “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.”
The militant speaks with a British accent and the video identifies his location as Dabiq, a small town in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo, near the Turkish border.
Kassig, 26, was an Army veteran who served in the Iraq war before he was honorably discharged for medical reasons in 2007.
Kassig later became an emergency medical technician and volunteered as a medical assistant in border hospitals in Lebanon in 2012, treating Palestinian refugees and those fleeing from the Syrian conflict.
In the fall of 2012, Kassig founded a non-governmental organzation called SERA, Special Emergency Response and Assistance, eventually moving its base of operations to Turkey, according to a family spokesman. From there Kassig “sourced and delivered food and medical supplies to the growing [refugee] camps on both sides of the Syrian border.” He also gave primary trauma care to children caught in the crossfire.
“We are heartbroken to learn that our son, Abdul-Rahman Peter Kassig, has lost his life as a result of his love for the Syrian people and his desire to ease their suffering,” his parents said in a statement on Sunday. “Our heart also goes out to the families of the Syrians who lost their lives, along with our son.”
The video released on Sunday also appears to show the mass beheading of several men identified as Syrian soldiers. The militants warn that U.S. soldiers fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria will meet a similar fate.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a tweet he was “horrified by the cold blooded murder” of Kassig, using the 26-year-old’s Islamic name, Abdul-Rahman Kassig.
I’m horrified by the cold blooded murder of Abdul-Rahman Kassig. ISIL have again shown their depravity. My thoughts are with his family.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) November 16, 2014
Prior to the most recent video, ISIS appeared to stick to a precise schedule of murder since August 19, when the group showed the beheading of American journalist James Foley, by releasing a video every two weeks showing one hostage beheaded as well as a preview of the next victim. However, the last video, showing the death of British aid worker Alan Henning, was posted October 3, more than a month ago.
Intelligence officials have told ABC News that ISIS media cells have been targeted by the raids and say that they have severely diminished the group’s ability to produce gruesome propaganda videos and social media messaging.
President Obama was briefed on the video by National Security Advisor Susan Rice while traveling back to the United States from a G20 summit in Australia, said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.
ISIS has killed four other Western hostages on camera previously: American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning.
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