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Islamist militants 'kill reporter James Foley on video' | Islamist militants 'kill reporter James Foley on video' |
(35 minutes later) | |
The Islamic State militant group has released a video online purporting to show the killing of a US journalist. | The Islamic State militant group has released a video online purporting to show the killing of a US journalist. |
The victim was identified by the militants as James Foley, a freelancer who was seized in Syria in late 2012. | |
The militants said it was in revenge for recent US air strikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq. | |
The video has not been independently verified, but the White House said if it was genuine, the US would be "appalled by the brutal murder". | |
Foley's family wrote on Facebook: "We know that many of you are looking for confirmation or answers. Please be patient until we all have more information, and keep the Foleys in your thoughts and prayers." | |
Foley has reported extensively across the Middle East, working for the Global Post and other news outlets including the French news agency AFP. | |
'Second prisoner' | |
In the video, titled A Message to America, a man who the IS said was James Foley is shown being held by a masked militant in desert-like terrain. | |
The militant, who speaks with a British accent, says the journalist's death is the direct result of US bombing of IS targets in Iraq. | The militant, who speaks with a British accent, says the journalist's death is the direct result of US bombing of IS targets in Iraq. |
The US has recently carried out a number of air strikes against IS militants, who have swept through large swathes of north-western Iraq. | The US has recently carried out a number of air strikes against IS militants, who have swept through large swathes of north-western Iraq. |
The footage also shows another prisoner identified by the rebels as an American reporter. | |
IS militants have been accused of massacring hundreds of people in areas under their control in Iraq and also in eastern Syria. | |
The violence has displaced an estimated 1.2 million people in Iraq. | |
Pursuing an extreme form of Sunni Islam, IS has persecuted non-Muslims such as Yazidis and Christians, as well as Shia Muslims, whom it regards as heretics. |