IS claims to have killed second reporter
The Islamic State group, which has claimed wide swaths of territory across Syria and Iraq and declared itself a caliphate, said that Sotloff’s killing was retribution for continued US air strikes targeting its fighters in Iraq. It killed American journalist James Foley last month in the same manner and again threatened to kill another hostage.
Sotloff, 31, who freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines, was last seen in Syria in August 2013, before he briefly appeared in the video released online last month by Islamic State that showed the beheading of Foley.
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit against the backdrop of an arid Syrian landscape, Sotloff was threatened in that video with death unless the US stopped air strikes on the group in Iraq.
In the video distributed last night, entitled ‘A Second Message to America’, Sotloff appears in a similar jumpsuit before he was purportedly beheaded by anIslamic State fighter.
Media outlets could not immediately verify the video’s authenticity. The Site Intelligence Group, a US terrorism watchdog, first reported about the video’s existence.
Unlike Foley’s beheading, which was widely shared on Twitter accounts affiliated with Islamic State, the video purporting to show Sotloff’s killing was not immediately posted online, though several jihadi websites told users to expect it.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said US intelligence analysis will “work as quickly as possible” to determine if the video of the beheading is authentic. “If the video is genuine, we are sickened by this brutal act,” said Psaki. “Our hearts go out to the Sotloff family and we will provide more information as it becomes available.”
Psaki said it is believed that “a few” Americans are believed to still be held by Islamic State, but would not give any specifics.
The fighter who appears to behead Sotloff in the video called it retribution for US president Barack Obama’s continued air strikes against the group in Iraq.
“I’m back, Obama, and I’m back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State... despite our serious warnings,” the fighter said. “So just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people.”
At the end of the video, he threatened to kill a third captive.
Sotloff’s mother had pleaded for his release last week in a video directed at Islamic State. Addressing the leader of the group by name, Shirley Sotloff said in a video that her son was “an innocent journalist” who should not pay for US government actions in the Middle East, over which he has no control.
Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said he was not immediately aware of the purported Sotloff video and was not in a position to confirm its authenticity.
“This is something that the administration has obviously been watching very carefully,” Earnest said. “Our thoughts and prayers first and foremost are with Mr Sotloff and Mr Sotloff’s family and those who worked with him.”
Islamic State, which has taken over a third of Syria and Iraq, has terrorised rivals and civilians alike with widely publicised brutality as it seeks to expand the proto-state it has carved out on both sides of the border.
In its rise to prominence over the past year, the group has frequently published graphic photos and gruesome videos of everything from bombings and beheadings to mass killings.
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