In
a new show of brutality for a group already known for displays of
violence, the Islamic State released a video on Tuesday purporting to
show the execution of a captive Jordanian pilot by burning him alive.
The lengthy footage shows clips of Jordan’s
involvement in the United States-led airstrikes against the Islamic
State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. At the end, the pilot, First Lt. Moaz
al-Kasasbeh, stands inside of a cage and is set on fire by an
unidentified militant who uses a torch to ignite flammable liquid that
has drenched the pilot’s clothing.
The
Islamic State’s previous video executions of Western hostages were all
beheadings. The latest video, sent to reporters on Tuesday morning by
members of the Islamic State and later reported by the SITE Intelligence
Group, an organization that monitors jihadist activity on the Internet,
was the group’s first known execution by fire.
“They
have raised the bar in terms of brutality,” said David L. Phillips, a
former senior adviser to the State Department on peace-building efforts
in Iraq, who is now a director at Columbia University’s Institute for
the Study of Human Rights.
Who is Sajida al-Rishawi?
-
- ▪ A 46-year-old Iraqi woman, Ms. Rishawi admitted on Jordanian television to taking part in a 2005 bomb attack in Amman that killed more than 57 people.
- ▪ In the attacks, her husband blew himself up, but her own suicide vest failed to detonate.
- ▪ She was later apprehended and sentenced to death by hanging.
- ▪ Ms. Rishawi said she volunteered to avenge her first husband and three brothers who were killed in confrontations with American troops in Iraq.
- ▪ Her family comes from Anbar Province, where the Islamic State currently holds sway. Read more»
Jordan’s
military on Tuesday vowed to avenge the pilot’s murder. King Abdullah
II of Jordan, who was visiting Washington, met with President Obama on
Tuesday night at the White House, and Jordan's official news agency said
he was truncating the trip to rush home.
“The
blood of our hero martyr Moaz al-Kasasbeh will not go for nothing,”
said Mandouh Ameri, a spokesman for the Jordanian military. “And the
revenge will be equal to what happened to Jordan.” The spokesman did not
specify what was meant by that threat.
There
was no indication in the video of when it was made. Jordanian officials
claimed Tuesday that the pilot had been executed Jan. 3, but the date
was not independently confirmed and the Jordanian government did not
offer an explanation for why officials believed the execution had
happened then.
American
intelligence officials were working to confirm the authenticity of the
video, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council said in a
statement.
At
a White House news conference, Mr. Obama said he was aware of the
footage. “It’s just one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity
of this organization,” he said. “And I think it will redouble the
vigilance and determination on the part of the global coalition to make
sure that they are degraded and ultimately defeated.”
The
26-year-old pilot was captured by Islamic State militants Dec. 24 after
his F-16 fighter jet went down over northern Syria. His captivity has
transfixed his home country, where he comes from a prominent tribe.
Jordanian
officials had attempted to negotiate with the Islamic State, which
demanded the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman incarcerated
in Jordan for her role in a 2005 bombing attack in the country’s
capital. The militants said they would kill Lieutenant Kasasbeh if
Jordan failed to comply, then set a deadline of Jan. 28.
Even
though Jordan said it would release Ms. Rishawi in return for the pilot
— an enormous concession to the group — the talks broke down because
the Islamic State appeared willing only to release a Japanese hostage in
exchange, and not the pilot.
After the deadline passed, the group released a video that appeared to show the Japanese hostage being beheaded.
The
depiction of the pilot’s execution appeared to have been carefully
produced. It shows him walking on a dirt path in an orange jumpsuit, the
same uniform worn by Western hostages in other execution videos
released by the Islamic State, meant to evoke the garb worn by prisoners
at the American prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The pilot’s movements
and expressions appear forced, as if he had been made to walk the
sequence several times.
In
the final minutes of the video, he is shown inside a black-barred cage,
his jumpsuit soaked in what appears to be gasoline. A hooded Islamic
State fighter theatrically lights a torch. The pilot is engulfed in
flames. He is shown collapsing to his knees, then falls backward.
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