By Amanda Vicinanzo
Senior Editor of Homeland Security Today
The suspected involvement of a British and French jihadist in another barbaric video of an American beheaded at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (IS) attests not only to the brutality of IS terrorists, but also heightens fears over the possibility of Western jihadists traveling back home to conduct lone wolf attacks.
The White House confirmed Sunday the death of Peter Kassig — an American aid worker and former US Army Ranger — who is believed to be the victim in the latest beheading video circulated by IS. While doing humanitarian work in war-torn Syria, Kassig was taken captive and held hostage for over a year. While in captivity, Kassig — who also went by the name Abdul-Rahman Kassig — converted to Islam.
President Obama confirmed the 26-year-old’s beheading, saying Kassig “was taken from us in an act of pure evil by a terrorist group that the world rightly associates with inhumanity.”
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters Kassig had “extraordinary values and principles,” and that applying them by helping others wherever it was needed “cost him his life.”
Kassig is the fifth Western hostage IS claims to have beheaded via brutal video messages. IS was also behind the executions of American journalists James Foley and Stephen Sotloff, British aid workers David Haines, a taxi driver, and Alan Henning, a former Air Force engineer.
To read Amanda’s full report, click here.
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