Tag: ISIS (page 11)

ISIS burned a Jordanian pilot alive, claiming its actions are justified by the pilot having flown missions for Jordan in which Syrian civilians, including children, were killed. It views the brutal murder as justified, under the Islamic equivalent of "an eye for an eye."

IS believes in a principle known as "qisas" which, in its broadest terms, is the law of equal retaliation. Put another way, it is the Islamic equivalent of "lex talionis", or the doctrine of an eye for an eye. Within Islamic law qisas typically relates to cases of murder, manslaughter, or acts involving physical mutilation (such as the loss of limbs) and creates a framework for victims (or their families) to seek retributive justice.

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Update: Jordan has executed Sajida al-Rishawi and another al Qaida prisoner, Ziad al-Karbouli (aka Abu Houthiyfah), who was also sentenced to death. Are more coming executions coming?

There are reports a Jordanian member of al-Qaida, Muammar Ahmad Yusuf Al-Jaghbir, was also moved to the execution facility. Al-Jaghbir was initially sentenced to death, but in 2009, his sentenced was changed to 15 years. On December 25, when reports first surfaced of an exchange of al Qaida prisoners with Jordan, al-Jahbir was mentioned, along with al-Rashawi and al-Karouli as those who could be released.

Would Jordan execute a prisoner (and Jordanian citizen) whose death sentence was commuted? That doesn't sit right, especially when al-Jaqhbir is not a member of ISIS. [More...]

ISIS released its official video today in which "Jihadi John", the black-clad ISIS executioner, beheads Japanese journalist Kenji Goto. (I'm not linking to the video and please do not post link in comments.)

The video does not show the actual moment of beheading, but it does show Goto's head laying on his body afterwards.

There is no mention of the Jordanian pilot in the video.

Update: No swap or release occurred. It should be mentioned that ISIS never said it would free the Jordanian pilot if Jordan released Sajida al-Rishawi. ISIS only said the pilot wouldn't be killed. Big difference. ISIS only offered to swap the Japanese journalist for al-Rishawi. ISIS said both would be killed if Jordan didn't comply by sunset. I suspect ISIS will carry out its threat, and kill both. (The pilot may already be dead, since there have been no photos of him since around the time of his capture.)

It was Jordan that added a condition that the release of al-Rishawi would have to be in exchange for its pilot (a swap), and demanded proof of life, before proceeding further. (Jordanian announcement here.) But that was never ISIS' offer. It only proposed a swap of the Japanese journalist. [More...]

Shannon Conley, a 19 year old from Arvada, CO was sentenced to four years in federal prison today.

She actually caught a big break. Had she not agreed to cooperate and plead guilty, for which the feds agreed to let her plead to the catch-all conspiracy charge under 18 USC Section 371, which carries a five year maximum sentence, she would have been facing a lot more time. Her sentencing guidelines, according to her plea agreement, were 25 to 30 years.

What did she do? From her plea agreement (in which she admits the following): She met a guy online named Yousr Mouelhi who said he was with ISIS. They agreed on the need for violent jihad. They decided to get married and made plans for her to travel to Turkey. But first, to improve her jihadist skills, she enrolled in in the volunteer US Army Explorers (USAE)program and received training in military tactics and firearms.[More...]

The Indian press reports today on the evidence that will be used against Shami Witness. A key piece will be a tweet by Shami in response to repeated requests by a would-be militant recruit using the handle @TalabAlHaqq for information on how to make the crossing from Turkey to Syria. He had been waiting for months in Turkey. [More....]

The black clad executioner known only as "Jihadi John" is back. Today ISIS released a video with a Message to Japan. The video is in English. Jihadi John says as a result of Japan pledging $200 million in non-military aid to assist in the fight against ISIS, it is demanding a ransom of $200 million, one for each of the two Japanese hostages.

One of the hostages, Haruna Yukawa, was shown being interrogated in a video last August. The second, Kenji Goto, is a journalist.

At the end of the video, Jihadi John addresses the Japanese people. He tells them they have 72 hours to convince their government to pay. "Otherwise, this knife will become your nightmare." [More...]

A Belgian arms dealer and "known underworld figure" turned himself into authorities today. He admitted supplying several weapons to Amedi Coulibaly which were used in the Paris attacks.

Federal police, who searched the suspect’s apartment, found papers linking him to a transaction with Amedy Coulibaly, the jihadist who murdered four Jewish men and held others hostage at the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in east Paris on Friday.

According to the local press, the man sold Coulibaly the Skorpion submachine guns he used in the attack, as well as the rocket propelled grenade launcher and the Kalashnikov automatic assault rifles that Said and Cherif Kouachi used to perpetrate the massacre at the offices of Charlie Hebdo. The weapons were purchased near the Midi railway station in downtown Brussels for less than 5,000 euros, according to the reports.

Update: 1/14/15: The fighter standing next to the child soldier who kills the Russian and Kazakh intel agents is Abu Saad al-Dagfhistani. He was killed in Kobane today according to ISIS accounts.

Al Hayat Media, an official media arm of the Islamic State, has a new video (I'm not linking to it) in which two captured Russian/Kazakh intelligence agents confess and are shot and killed. What's unusual is that the killer is about 10 years old. The video shows him prepare to kill the men and then proceed to shoot them in the head. The final screenshot in the video is of the child I wrote about here in an earlier video who was one of many children from Kazakhstan training in a camp in Syria. That child appears to be about 10 years old and looks and sounds female. S/he says to the camera, "We're going to kill you O kuffar...we're going to slaughter you."

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Al Hayat Media, one of the media arms for the Islamic State (ISIS) has released a “martyrdom” video of Almedy Coulibaly, recorded before the Kosher market siege, pledging allegiance to the Islamic State and explaining his reasons for hooking up with the Kouachi brothers and embarking on his killing spree. It’s already down from You Tube, but you can watch it here, here or here. Even though it is in French, I suggest you watch it to see the editing. If you'd rather read about it, descriptions by the media are here and here.

Al Hayat takes video recorded by Coulibaly after the Charlie Hebdo killings and the killing of the policewoman, but before the market killings, and adds its own text and descriptions, giving the impression he is being interviewed by ISIS. [More...]

Just before New Years, I wondered what happened to John Cantlie.

We have the answer. He's still alive. Here is his latest video giving a tour of Mosul, Iraq, which he says is the "absolute heartland" of the Caliphate and home to 2 million people." He says he sees millions of people going about their daily business after years of oppression.

Towards the end, he is driving an ISIS police motorcycle through the streets of Mosul, with a big grin and an ISIS member sitting behind him: [More...]

Shami Witness, the tweeter from India who posted ISIS news updates with favorable comments, went to court yesterday. His police detention is over, and he has been remanded to judicial custody until Jan. 15.

Bengaluru City Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi told reporters: "During interrogation, we figured that he (Biswas) was in direct touch with ISIS fighters. We have gathered evidence to show that he supported IS. Apart from proactively tweeting for the group, his messages prove that he encouraged youths to join the organisation."

The police also said that their investigation into his role in working as a propagandist was complete. "He cooperated during interrogation and never refused to share any information that we sought. We will seek his custody if required in the coming days based on inputs from the National Investigation Agency," a police source said.

Another police source says: [More...]