The Islamic State group has released a graphic video in which a black-clad militant claimed to have beheaded US aid worker Peter Kassig, who was captured last year. The militant was standing over a body, but it was not immediately possible...
Belfast Telegraph 2014-11-16Share PhotoReddit✉ This undated photo provided by the Kassig Family shows Peter Kassig delivering supplies for Syrian refugees. A new graphic video purportedly produced...
U~T San Diego 2014-11-16Share PhotoReddit✉ This undated photo provided by the Kassig Family shows Peter Kassig delivering supplies for Syrian refugees. A new graphic video purportedly produced...
U~T San Diego 2014-11-17Share PhotoReddit✉ This still image taken from an undated video published on the Internet by the Islamic State group militants and made available, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014,...
U~T San Diego 2014-11-17
![ISIS video shows beheading of US hostage Peter Kassig - beheaded American [FULL]](http://web.archive.org./web/20141120202424im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kQ0gLBafWfU/0.jpg)
![ISIS video shows beheading of US hostage Peter Kassig - Islamic State beheaded American [RAW VIDEO]](http://web.archive.org./web/20141120202424im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/94fQ00AlVHg/0.jpg)
![ISIS - US HOSTAGE PETER KASSIG BEAHEADED KILLED BEHEAD [WARNING] [GRAPHIC] VIDEO](http://web.archive.org./web/20141120202424im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_kr-160WcRA/0.jpg)
![ISIS video shows beheading of US hostage Peter Kassig - Islamic State beheaded American [FULL VIDEO]](http://web.archive.org./web/20141120202424im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LX3SGyzxGJM/0.jpg)
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On Sunday, the Islamic State said that it had killed Abdul-Rahman Kassig, an American soldier-turned-aid worker who had dedicated himself for years to helping civilians in war-torn Syria. Abdul-Rahman Kassig, who was known as Peter before his conversion to Islam in 2013, was kidnapped in October of last year. Islamic State militants had threatened his life in a video...
Huffington Post 2014-11-16Add comment Reprints + - FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Kassig Family shows Peter Kassig standing in front of a truck filled with supplies for Syrian refugees. A new graphic video purportedly produced by Islamic State militants in Syria released Sunday Nov. 16, 2014 claims U.S. aid worker Kassig was beheaded. (AP Photo/Courtesy Kassig Family, File) Photo Credit:...
Newsday 2014-11-17He was an unusual sight in this embattled but historic Lebanese port city, a Westerner who wasn't a journalist, a young man driven to provide humanitarian help to the unremitting flow of wounded and displaced from Syria's civil war. "He was full of sympathy for people, and he had some useful skills," recalled Dr. Ahmed Obeid. "He was very courageous. Maybe that was his undoing...
The Los Angeles Times 2014-11-11Add comment Reprints + - FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Kassig Family shows Peter Kassig standing in front of a truck filled with supplies for Syrian refugees. A new graphic video purportedly produced by Islamic State militants in Syria released Sunday Nov. 16, 2014 claims U.S. aid worker Kassig was beheaded. (AP Photo/Courtesy Kassig Family, File) Photo Credit:...
Newsday 2014-11-16INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - The parents of an American aid worker beheaded by Islamic State militants after his abduction in Syria asked for prayers for other captives in Syria and Iraq in a brief public statement at their Indianapolis church on Monday. Abdul-Rahman Kassig, whose name was Peter before his conversion to Islam, was the fifth European or American captive killed by...
Reuters 2014-11-18BEIRUT — Islamic State militants have beheaded Peter Kassig, a U.S. aid worker and ex-Army Ranger who was captured last year in Syria while on a private humanitarian mission, the White House confirmed Sunday. U.S. officials authenticated a 16-minute video, released on various social networks by the militant group earlier in the day, which also shows the mass beheading of men...
Stars and Stripes 2014-11-16BEIRUT — Islamic State militants have beheaded Peter Kassig, a U.S. aid worker and ex-Army Ranger who was captured last year in Syria while on a private humanitarian mission, the White House confirmed Sunday. U.S. officials authenticated a 16-minute video, released on various social networks by the militant group earlier in the day, which also shows the mass beheading of men...
Stars and Stripes 2014-11-17The beheadings received wide coverage and condemnation in the US and EU. Political scientist Max Abrahms posited that ISIL may be using well-publicized beheadings as a means of differentiating itself from Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), and identifying itself with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the jihadi who beheaded Daniel Pearl.
Haines' family requested that his abduction be kept a secret. The abduction became public when Haines appeared in the purported Sotloff execution video, being held by Jihadi John who threatened that Haines would be the next victim. The UK Foreign Office originally requested the British media to not publish Haines' identity, fearing for his safety, though international press had published his name.
A video of the lead-up and aftermath of Haines' beheading, entitled "A Message to the Allies of America", was released by ISIL on September 13, 2014.
The following day, a recently formed ISIL affiliate in Algeria, Jund al-Khilafah, released a video which showed Gourdel being held hostage. The group threatened to kill Gourdel if the French government continued to conduct airstrikes against the Islamic State. On September 24, they carried through on threats to behead him after a 24-hour deadline passed. The beheading was captured in a video titled "A Message of Blood for French Government."
The video is similar to other ISIL beheading videos. It opens with a news clip of French President François Hollande and a title screen. It then shows Gourdel handcuffed and kneeling in front of four armed masked men. After Gourdel delivers a statement, one of the militants reads a statement. In it he declares that this kidnapping and execution were in response to the order of ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani to attack citizens of countries participating in the US-led coalition against the Islamic State. Like the other IS beheading videos, it does not show the actual beheading, but the final scene does show Gourdel's dead body with his severed head in his lap, and then the fighters holding it up.
The day after the beheading, approximately 2,000 Algerian soldiers and 500 marines assisted by helicopters and sniffer dogs searched the Tizi Ouzou region to try to find the militants responsible for the beheading. A spokesman for the Algerian government reiterated its commitment to protecting foreign residents living inside the country, which includes around 30,000 French citizens.
Deputy Police Chief General Asadullah Ensafi reported that Taliban ambushes stopped reinforcements from the Afghan National Army and provincial police from reaching the area. Afghan commandos inserted by helicopter were able to reinforce units already defending the area and Ensafi reported that the "immediate threat to district's center had been nullified."
Kassig was working in Syria and Lebanon as a humanitarian worker, aiding Syrian refugees through Special Emergency Response and Assistance (SERA), a non-governmental organisation he founded in 2012 to provide refugees in Lebanon and Syria with medical assistance, supplies, clothing, and food. Kassing trained as a medical assistant, and provided trauma care to Syrians who were injured, and helped train others to provide medical aid.
While delivering food and medical supplies to refugees, Kassig was taken captive by the ISIL on October 1, 2013, as he was on his way to Deir Ezzour in eastern Syria. He changed his name to Abdul-Rahman Kassig after converting to Islam while in captivity, sometime between October and December 2013. He was kept in a cell with French journalist Nicolas Henin and British journalist John Cantlie, and beaten regularly.
Kassig was named as the next victim to be beheaded in the video released by ISIL militents on 3 October 2014 that showed Alan Henning's beheading, and was shown in the video wearing a Guantánamo Bay-era style orange jump suit. On 6 October 2014, his family sent a video message to the Islamic State and asked for mercy for their son, and that same day, a British member of ISIL released a video condemning Britain's air attacks on ISIL and their alliance with the United States.
Soon after the David Haines video surfaced, British Prime Minister David Cameron released a statement by Twitter: "The murder of David Haines is an act of pure evil. My heart goes out to his family who have shown extraordinary courage and fortitude. We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes."
The White House released this statement via Twitter: "The United States strongly condemns the barbaric murder of UK citizen David Haines by the terrorist group ISIL [ISIS.] Our hearts go out to the family of Mr. Haines and to the people of the United Kingdom. The United States stands shoulder to shoulder tonight with our close friend and ally in grief and resolve. We will work with the United Kingdom and a broad coalition of nations from the region and around the world to bring the perpetrators of this outrageous act to justice, and to degrade and destroy this threat to the people of our countries, the region and the world."
The British Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) has been working to "take extremist material off the internet" and has removed over 28,000 pieces of "unlawful terrorist-related content" between December 2013 and August 2014.
In response the beheading of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, Agence France-Presse (AFP) released a statement saying that it would "no longer accept work from freelance journalists who travel to places where we ourselves would not venture." including Syria. The Boston-based GlobalPost, for whom Foley had been a contributor, released a statement saying "While we continue to send staff correspondents to Syria, we no longer accept freelance work from that war zone."
Two days after the beheading of Hervé Gourdel, hundreds of Muslims gathered in the Grand Mosque of Paris to show solidarity against the beheading. The protest was lead by the leader of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, Dalil Boubakeur, and was joined by thousands of other Muslims around the country. French president François Hollande said Gourdel’s beheading was “cowardly” and “cruel,” and confirmed that airstrikes would continue against ISIL in Iraq. Hollande also called for three days of national mourning, with flags flown at half-mast throughout the country and said that security would be increased throughout Paris.
![this tree on St. James Place off Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo, New York literally split into two due to ice and snow during the "Friday the 13 snow storm" and fell in the shape of a "T". Like most of the trees damaged by the storm, many will have to be removed completely. [October 14, 2006]. wnhires (js1)](http://web.archive.org./web/20141120202424im_/http://cdn8.wn.com/ph/img/ad/97/106d958535e4e3babec08d7bd83c-medium.jpg)
