A new video has surfaced showing Islamic State militants allegedly beheading UK aid worker Alan Henning, the Associated Press reports.
According to AP, the footage shows an Islamic State (ISIS / ISIL) militant murdering Henning before threatening to also kill American Peter Edward Kassig.
Before ending the video, the Islamic State fighter blames President Barack Obama’s renewed military action in Syria and Iraq for his and other hostages’ deaths.
“Obama, you have started your aerial bombard of Shams [Syria], which keep on striking our people, so it is only right that we strike the next of your people,” the masked militant said, as quoted by AP.
The video was released on Friday and resembles other beheading videos published online by the Islamic State.
Henning is now the fourth Westerner known to be beheaded by the Islamic State. Other victims include British aid worker David Haines and two Americans: journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. An ISIS-linked group also beheaded a French tourist.
Alan Henning – a former taxi driver from Manchester – was 47 years old when he was captured by the extremist group last year. He was heading into Syria after joining an aid convoy into the country, and was last seen when British aid worker David Haines was beheaded in a previous video.
Before Henning’s death, his wife Barbara urged the group to release him, saying on September 19 that he is “a peaceful, selfless man.”
At this point, it is unclear if the militant responsible for beheading Henning is the same man who the FBI believes killed other Westerners, including the two Americans. Late last month, the Bureau said it believes it knows the identity of the man previously known only as “Jihadi John,” though it declined to reveal his name or nationality in public.
Kassig – who militants have threatened to behead next – is a 26-year-old former US soldier who was deployed to Iraq back in 2007, the New York Daily News reported. After serving, he decided to start his own aid group to help Syrian refugees. He also spent time in a Palestinian refugee camp and a hospital in Lebanon.
