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John Cantlie, British Hostage, Said to Appear in ISIS Video From Kobani John Cantlie, British Hostage, Seen in ISIS Video Apparently From Kobani
(about 4 hours later)
LONDON — A British hostage has been shown in a video, apparently made by the Islamic State in the beleaguered Syrian town of Kobani near the Turkish border, depicting him as a combat correspondent and forecasting that the settlement is about to fall to militants despite waves of American airstrikes. LONDON — A British hostage of the Islamic State has been shown in a video, apparently made in the beleaguered Syrian town of Kobani near the Turkish border, depicting him as a combat correspondent and forecasting that the town is about to fall to militants despite waves of American airstrikes.
The hostage, John Cantlie, a British photojournalist who was abducted over two years ago, appeared in the video, which was released late Monday. Dressed in black, he says, “Now the battle for Kobani is coming to an end.” The video, about five and a half minutes long, suggests a further evolution in the militants’ command of media technology to promote their cause, using the techniques of 24-hour news channel journalism to counter the West’s accounts of what is happening in Kobani.
The video could not immediately be verified, and it was not clear when it was made. The British Foreign Office said it was “analyzing its contents.” Punctuated by the rattle of machine-gun fire, the clip begins with aerial views of the town, apparently a further indication of the militants’ use of surveillance drones.
Mr. Cantlie has been shown in a series of videos seemingly filmed by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, explaining the militants’ strategy as they seek to establish an Islamic caliphate extending across territory in Syria and Iraq. “Hello, I’m John Cantlie,” the hostage says, dressed in black, “and today we are in the city of Kobani on the Syrian-Turkish border. That is, in fact, Turkey right behind me.”
He gestures over his shoulder and refers scathingly to the absence of Western journalists in the town. All he can see, he says, are large numbers of Islamic State fighters — although no combatants or combat are shown in the video.
The video showing Mr. Cantlie, a British photojournalist who was abducted over two years ago, was released late Monday. In it, he says, “Now the battle for Kobani is coming to an end.”
The images could not immediately be verified, and it was not clear when the video was made. The British Foreign Office said it was “analyzing its contents.”
On the ground on Tuesday, news reports said, a contingent of Iraqi Kurds was preparing to fly to Turkey after the government in Ankara agreed to allow Kurdish reinforcements to cross the border into Syria. American officials also reported four more airstrikes against militant positions in Kobani, the latest in a battle for the town that has lasted more than a month and claimed hundreds of lives.
The fate of Kobani has become a touchstone of the Western campaign against the Islamic State, with the battle — and American airstrikes in support of Kurdish defenders — unfolding in full view of journalists, spectators and Turkish troops just across the border.
Mr. Cantlie has been seen in a series of videos seemingly filmed by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, explaining the militants’ strategy as they seek to establish an Islamic caliphate extending across territory in Syria and Iraq.
His appearances have been in marked contrast to the horrific images of four other hostages — two American and two British — who appear to have been beheaded while kneeling in a bare landscape, clad in orange and explaining their plight as a consequence of Western actions against the militants.His appearances have been in marked contrast to the horrific images of four other hostages — two American and two British — who appear to have been beheaded while kneeling in a bare landscape, clad in orange and explaining their plight as a consequence of Western actions against the militants.
In the latest video, Mr. Cantlie, standing on a rooftop, gestures over his shoulder to what he says is Turkish territory behind him. The fate of Kobani has become a touchstone of the Western campaign against the Islamic State, with the battle — and American airstrikes in support of Kurdish defenders — unfolding in full view of journalists, spectators and Turkish troops just across the border. While Kobani is known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic, in the video it is referred to as Ayn al-Islam.
The video opens with aerial images showing the town below, a further indication that the militants have deployed drone technology for surveillance purposes. While Kobani is known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic, it is called Ayn al-Islam in the video. Calling Islamic State combatants mujahedeen, or holy warriors, Mr. Cantlie says they “are just mopping up now, street to street, and building to building.”
Referring to Islamic State combatants as mujahedeen, or holy warriors, Mr. Cantlie says they “are just mopping up now, street to street, and building to building.”
“You can occasionally hear sporadic gunfire in the background as a result of those operations,” he says.“You can occasionally hear sporadic gunfire in the background as a result of those operations,” he says.
“But contrary to what the Western media would have you believe, it is not an all-out battle here now,” he says, accusing Western reporters of being misled by official American and Kurdish accounts of the battle. “It is nearly over. As you can hear, it is very quiet, just the occasional gunfire.” “But contrary to what the Western media would have you believe, it is not an all-out battle here now,” Mr. Cantlie says, accusing Western reporters of being misled by official American and Kurdish accounts of the battle. “It is nearly over. As you can hear, it is very quiet, just the occasional gunfire.”
Mr. Cantlie says that American airstrikes deterred the militants from using tanks, forcing them into house-to-house fighting with lighter weapons. But he mocks the United States Air Force as “hopeless” for mistakenly airdropping supplies intended for Kurdish defenders “straight into the outstretched arms of the mujahedeen.”Mr. Cantlie says that American airstrikes deterred the militants from using tanks, forcing them into house-to-house fighting with lighter weapons. But he mocks the United States Air Force as “hopeless” for mistakenly airdropping supplies intended for Kurdish defenders “straight into the outstretched arms of the mujahedeen.”
“Two hundred thousand inhabitants of the city have been displaced because of the fighting that came here,” he adds. “You can see the refugee camps over my right shoulder over there in Turkey, where the inhabitants now are. But contrary to media reports, the fighting in Kobani is nearly over.”“Two hundred thousand inhabitants of the city have been displaced because of the fighting that came here,” he adds. “You can see the refugee camps over my right shoulder over there in Turkey, where the inhabitants now are. But contrary to media reports, the fighting in Kobani is nearly over.”
“Urban warfare is as about as nasty and tough as it gets, and it’s something of a specialty of the mujahedeen,” he says.“Urban warfare is as about as nasty and tough as it gets, and it’s something of a specialty of the mujahedeen,” he says.
The video lasts about five and a half minutes.