Executions by ISIS refers here to killing by beheading, immolation, shooting, or other means of soldiers and civilians (such as captives and "criminals") by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). ISIL has released a number of propaganda/publicity videos of beheadings or shootings of captives. Houtat Sulūk is reported to be a mass grave. [1] [2]
Victim(s) | Sex(s) | Nationality(s) of victim(s) | Date of execution (approx.) | Place of execution (approx.) | Method(s) | Reason(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
39 Indian migrant workers | ? | Indian | June 2014 | Mosul, Iraq | Unknown execution method | Failure to pay Ransom |
1,095–1,700 Iraqi soldiers | M | Iraqi | June 12, 2014 | Tikrit, Iraq | Shooting | Sectarian violence against Shi’ite Muslims in Iraq |
200 Syrian soldiers | M | Syrian | July 16–26, 2014 | Palmyra, Syria | Shooting | Revenge against the Syrian regime |
75 Syrian soldiers | M | Syrian | July 25, 2014 | Raqqa, Syria | Beheading | Holding position in Raqqa under allegiance to Bashar al-Assad |
James Wright Foley | M | American | August 19, 2014 | Raqqa, Syria | Beheading | Retaliation for the American airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq [3] |
250 Syrian soldiers | M | Syrian | August 27–28, 2014 | Tabqa, Syria | Shooting | Revenge against the Syrian regime |
Sgt. Ali al-Sayyed | M | Lebanese | August 28, 2014 | Arsal, Lebanon | Beheading | To send a message to Lebanon [4] |
Unnamed Peshmerga soldier | M | Kurdish | August 29, 2014 | Mosul, Iraq | Beheading | To send a message to the Peshmerga |
Steven Joel Sotloff | M | Israeli-American | September 2, 2014 | Badiya, Syria | Beheading | Failure to pay Ransom and continued American airstrikes against the Islamic |
Sol. Abbas Medlej | M | Lebanese | September 6, 2014 | Arsal, Lebanon | Beheading and shooting | Attempting to escape from Islamic State captors |
David Cawthorne Haines | M | British | September 13, 2014 | Badiya, Syria | Beheading | Failure to pay Ransom and British airstrikes against the Islamic State |
Samira Saleh Ali al-Naimi | F | Iraqi | September 22, 2014 | Mosul, Iraq | Shooting | Criticizing the destruction of mosques and ancient artifacts, as well as being an “apostate” |
Hervé Gourdel | M | French | September 24, 2014 | Tikjda, Algeria | Beheading | French airstrikes against the Islamic State |
Alan Henning | M | British | October 3, 2014 | Badiya, Syria | Beheading | Failure to pay Ransom and the continued British airstrikes against the Islamic State |
Sergei Gorbunov | M | Russian | October 25, 2014 | Raqqa, Syria | Shooting | Failure to pay Ransom |
Maj. Peter Edward Abdul-Rahman Kassig | M | American | November 16, 2014 | Dabiq, Syria | Beheading | Failure to pay Ransom and the beginning of American airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria |
21 Syrian soldiers | M | Syrian | November 16, 2014 | Dabiq, Syria | Beheading | To send a message to the Syrian regime and Western nations |
100 foreign Islamic State fighters | ? | ? | December 2014 | Raqqa, Syria | Beheading | Deserting from the Islamic State and trying to escape Raqqa |
1st LT. Muath Safi Yousef al-Kasasbeh | M | Jordanian | January 3, 2015 | Raqqa, Syria | Immolation | Failure to pay Ransom and in retaliation for Jordanian involvement in “Crusader” airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria |
Mamayev Jambulat Yesenjenovich | M | Kazakh | January 13, 2015 | Damascus, Syria | Shooting | Spying for Russian intelligence |
Ashimov Sergey Nikolayevich | M | Kazakh | January 13, 2015 | Damascus, Syria | Shooting | Spying for Russian intelligence |
Haruna Yukawa | M | Japanese | January 24, 2015 | Deir ez-Zor, Syria | Beheading | Failure to pay Ransom and to send a message to Japan |
Sol. Hujam Surchi | M | Kurdish | January 28, 2015 | Mosul, Iraq | Beheading | To send a message to the Peshmerga and Masoud Barzani |
Kenji Goto | M | Japanese | January 31, 2015 | Raqqa, Syria | Beheading | Failure to pay Ransom and to send another message to Japan |
10 alleged Egyptian spies | M | Egyptian | February 2015 | Sinai, Egypt | Beheading | Alleged spying for the Mossad and the Egyptian army |
Kayla Jean Mueller | F | American | February 6, 2015 | Raqqa, Syria | Unknown execution method, Islamic State claimed that she had been killed in a Jordanian airstrike (proven wrong) | Failure to pay Ransom |
1 Ghanaian and 20 Coptic Christians | M | Coptic Egyptian and Ghanaian | February 15, 2015 | Tripolitania, Libya | Beheading | To send a message to the Christians and “Crusaders”, also to avenge |
Mohamed Sa’id Ismail Musallam | M | 48-Palestinian | March 10, 2015 | Raqqa, Syria | Shooting | Alleged spying for Israel |
3 Eritrean and 30 Ethiopian Christians | M | Ethiopian and Eritrean | April 19, 2015 | Cyrenaica, Libya and Fezzan, Libya | Beheading and shooting | To send another message to the Christians and “Crusaders”, also to avenge Muslims who have been killed in U.S. led coalition airstrikes |
Mahmud Abdul-Amir al-Khalaf | M | Iraqi | June 17, 2015 | near the Tigris, Iraq | Crucifixion and amputation | Spying for the Peshmerga |
16 Iraqi spies | M | Iraqi | June 23, 2015 | Mosul, Iraq | RPG blast, drowning and | Spying and giving away information about the Islamic State |
Faisal Hussain al-Habib | M | Syrian | July 6, 2015 | Raqqa, Syria | Shooting | Participating in the activist group “Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently” |
Bashir Abduladhim | M | Syrian | July 6, 2015 | Raqqa, Syria | Shooting | Participating in the activist group “Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently” |
Rayif al-Abd | M | Syrian | July 16, 2015 | Homs, Syria | Beheading | Fighting against the Islamic State under the Syrian army |
10 Afghan spies | M | Afghan | August 9, 2015 | Nangarhar, Afghanistan | IED | Spying for the Taliban |
Tomislav Salopek | M | Croatian | August 12, 2015 | Sinai, Egypt | Beheading | Failure to pay Ransom |
Mohamed al-Mousa al-Jasim | M | Syrian | August 15, 2015 | Raqqa, Syria | Shooting | Participating in the activist group “Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently” |
Abdallah al-Khalaf al-Humaid al-Aydan | M | Syrian | August 15, 2015 | Raqqa, Syria | Shooting | Participating in the activist group “Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently” |
Raqan Hud Awad | M | Syrian | August 15, 2015 | Raqqa, Syria | Shooting | Participating in the activist group “Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently” |
Khaled Mohamad al-Asaad | M | Syrian | August 18, 2015 | Palmyra, Syria | Beheading | Protecting “idols” and being an “apostate” |
4 Iraqi militiamen | M | Iraqi | August 30, 2015 | Anbar, Iraq | Immolation | Revenge for Iraqi Soldiers and militiamen burning the corpses of Sunni civilians |
7 Peshmerga soldiers | M | Kurdish | September 30, 2015 | Mosul, Iraq | Beheading | To send a message to the Peshmerga and the family members of the beheaded captives |
Muhammad Tayib Ali al-Amri | M | Libyan | October 16, 2015 | Cyrenaica, Libya | Shooting | Spying for a “Western Awakening proxy” |
Rushdi Ageela Omran al-Masouri | M | Libyan | October 16, 2015 | Cyrenaica, Libya | Dragging | Spying for a “Western Awakening proxy” |
Fadi Ammar Zidan | M | Syrian | October 24, 2015 | Homs, Syria | Crushing | Revenge for Fadi running over the corpses of Islamic State fighters with a tank |
Fan Jinghui | M | Chinese | November 18, 2015 | Deir ez-Zor, Syria | Shooting | Failure to pay Ransom |
Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad | M | Norwegian | November 18, 2015 | Deir ez-Zor, Syria | Shooting | Failure to pay Ransom |
Khasiev Magomed | M | Russian | December 2, 2015 | Raqqa, Syria | Beheading | Alleged spying for Russia |
25 Houthi soldiers | M | Yemeni | December 4, 2015 | Aden Abyan, Yemen | Beheading and various explosives | Revenge for Houthi attacks against the Islamic State |
6 Syrian spies | M | Syrian | December 4, 2015 | Deir ez-Zor, Syria | Beheading and shooting | Alleged spying for Israel and America |
Muadh Fayumi | M | Syrian | December 11, 2015 | Damascus, Syria | IED | Being part of a “Western Awakening proxy” |
Firas Qataf | M | Syrian | December 11, 2015 | Damascus, Syria | IED | Being part of a “Western Awakening proxy” |
Javatov Migitin Amirbekovich | M | Dagestani Russian | December 24, 2015 | Dagestan, Russia | Shooting | Being a governor of Kakamakhi |
Ibakov Shamil Bagauddinovich | M | Dagestani Russian | December 24, 2015 | Dagestan, Russia | Shooting | Reporting an Islamic State member to authorities |
5 Syrian collaborators with Britain | M | Syrian | January 3, 2016 | Raqqa, Syria | Shooting | Collaborating with Britain |
6 Syrian collaborators with France | M | Syrian | January 24, 2016 | Badiya, Syria | Beheading and shooting | Collaborating with France |
Karim Hussein | M | Iraqi | January 30, 2016 | Baiji, Iraq | Beheading | Being part of the Iraqi Shi’ite militia “Asa’ib Ahl al-Haqq” and fighting against the Islamic State alongside other Iraqi militias |
5 Iraqi collaborators with France | M | Iraqi | January 30, 2016 | Mosul, Iraq | Shooting | Collaborating with and spying for France |
4 Peshmerga soldiers | M | Kurdish | February 2, 2016 | Kirkuk, Iraq | Beheading | To send a message to the Peshmerga and America |
Muhammad Abdul-Aziz Tabsho | M | Syrian | February 5, 2016 | Aleppo, Syria | Beheading | Being an Imam of a “Western Awakening proxy” |
300+ Iraqi soldiers, law enforcement officers and civil activists | ? | Iraqi | February 8, 2016 | Mosul, Iraq | Firing squad | To send a message to Iraq |
4 Syrian collaborators with America | M | Syrian | February 11, 2016 | Raqqa, Syria | Car bomb | Collaborating with America |
8 Iraqi collaborators | M | Iraqi | April 16, 2016 | Fallujah, Iraq | Beheading, shooting and detonating cord | Collaborating with Iraqi police and security forces, as well as spying |
John Bramwell Ridsdel | M | British-Canadian | April 25, 2016 | Sulu, Philippines | Beheading | Failure to pay Ransom |
3 Houthi soldiers | M | Yemeni | May 19, 2016 | Aden Abyan, Yemen | Beheading, shooting and stoning | To send a message to the Houthis and other factions in Yemen that are fighting against the Islamic State |
Robert Ward Hall | M | Canadian | June 13, 2016 | Sulu, Philippines | Beheading | Failure to pay Ransom |
5 Syrian collaborators | M | Syrian | June 24, 2016 | Deir ez-Zor, Syria | Beheading, stabbing, strangulation and various explosives | Collaborating with the Western coalition |
5 Syrian collaborators Euphrates | M | Syrian | June 28, 2016 | Abu Kamal, Syria | Beheading | Receiving help and training with American forces under the allegiance of “Western Awakening proxies” |
Abdullah Aarf Abdul-Wahab Al-Jaheshi | M | Iraqi | July 20, 2016 | Mosul, Iraq | Beheading | Collaborating with and spying for France |
Muhannad Mahmud Junaidan Khalaf Al-Sabawi | M | Iraqi | July 20, 2016 | Mosul, Iraq | Beheading | Collaborating with and spying for France |
Samir Al-Hamad Majid | M | Iraqi | August 14, 2016 | Diyala, Iraq | Shooting | To send a message to Iraq |
6 Iraqi captives | M | Iraqi | August 15, 2016 | Mosul, Iraq | Beheading and shooting | Graffiting anti Islamic State slogans and spying |
15 Coalition collaborators | M | Syrian and Kurdish | August 25, 2016 | Raqqa, Syria | Beheading and shooting | Participating in the coalition against the Islamic State |
Slaughterhouse massacre of 16 Syrians | M | Syrian | September 12, 2016 | Deir ez-Zor, Syria | Exsanguination | Collaborating with the Western coalition |
FCmdr. Ahmad Musa al-Hussein | M | Syrian | September 19, 2016 | Aleppo, Syria | Beheading and shooting with a mounted machine gun | Being part of a “Western Awakening proxy” |
10 Iraqi captives | M | Iraqi | October 13, 2016 | Mosul, Iraq | Shooting | Graffiting anti Islamic State slogans and collaborating against the Islamic State |
4 Syrian spies | M | Syrian | October 25, 2016 | Raqqa, Syria | Crucifixion, shooting and stabbing | Spying for the Western coalition |
300 Iraqi civilians | ? | Iraqi | October 28-November 7, 2016 | Mosul, Iraq | Unknown execution method | Refusing to join and fight for the Islamic State |
3 Syrian collaborators | M | Syrian | November 1, 2016 | Abu Kamal, Syria | Beheading and shooting with a vehicle mounted anti-aircraft gun | Being part of a “Western Awakening proxy” |
2 Iraqi spies | M | Iraqi | November 14, 2016 | near the Euphrates, Iraq | Shooting with a machine gun | Spying for Iraq |
5 Syrian collaborators Damascus | M | Syrian | December 6, 2016 | Damascus, Syria | Beheading | Training with American and Jordanian forces under the allegiance of “Western Awakening proxies” |
Pvt. Sefter Taş | M | Turkish | December 22, 2016 | Aleppo, Syria | Immolation | Turkish airstrikes against the Islamic State |
Pvt. Fethi Şahin | M | Turkish | December 22, 2016 | Aleppo, Syria | Immolation | Turkish airstrikes against the Islamic State |
6 Syrian combatants | M | Syrian | December 28, 2016 | Raqqa, Syria | Shooting and throwing | Being part of or spying for multiple factions that were fighting against the Islamic State in Syria |
‘Umar Tariq Mahmud Mustafa at-Tai | M | Iraqi | January 4, 2017 | Mosul, Iraq | Beheading | Collaborating with and giving away information about the Islamic State to the Chief of Staff in the Iraqi army during the Battle of Mosul |
Adnan Hadi Muhammad ‘Ali “Seymour” | M | Iraqi | January 4, 2017 | Mosul, Iraq | Drowning | Collaborating with and giving away information about the Islamic State to Iraqi soldiers, militiamen and coalition participants during the Battle of Mosul on an Iraqi radio broadcast podcast, causing 10-11 people to be killed in an American airstrike and also to punish Adnan for the drinking of liquor that some Iraqi soldiers and militiamen partake in and have caused others in Mosul to partake in as well |
3 PKK spies | M | Syrian and Iraqi | January 7, 2017 | Deir ez-Zor, Syria | Beheading and shooting | Spying for the PKK |
2 PKK spies | M | Syrian | January 24, 2017 | Raqqa, Syria | Exsanguination | Spying for the PKK during the Battle of Raqqa |
Jürgen Gustav Kantner | M | German | February 27, 2017 | Sulu, Philippines | Beheading | Failure to pay Ransom |
1LT. Abbas Yassin al-Daraji “Abu Bakir al-Samarayi” | M | Iraqi | March 28, 2017 | Ar-Rutba, Iraq | Beheading | To send a message to Iraq |
4 PKK soldiers | M | Syrian | April 19, 2017 | Raqqa, Syria | Beheading | Fighting against the Islamic State during the Battle of Raqqa |
Cpt. Petrenko Evgeny Viktorovich | M | Russian | May 8, 2017 | Badiya, Syria | Beheading | Being a Russian intelligence officer [5] |
7 Syrian collaborators | M | Syrian | June 18, 2017 | near the Jordan–Syria border, Syria | Beheading and firing squad | Collaborating with America and Jordan |
Isa Ali Kinash | M | Syrian | July 29, 2017 | Raqqa, Syria | Shooting | Betraying the Islamic State and collaborating with the YPG during the Battle of Raqqa |
Mohsen Hojaji | M | Iranian | August 10, 2017 | Iraqi-Syrian border, Iraq | Beheading | To send a message to Iran, “Rafidhis” (Shi’ite Muslims) and “Majusis” (Zoroastrians) |
Umar Gul | M | Afghan | November 29, 2017 | Jalalabad, Afghanistan | Amputation and beheading | Alleged spying for American and Pakistani intelligence agencies |
Cpt. Raad Khalaf al-Hamadi | M | Iraqi | December 22, 2017 | Anbar, Iraq | Shooting with a machine gun | To send a message to Iraq |
Sol. Musaib Jasim al-Mitiri | M | Iraqi | December 22, 2017 | Anbar, Iraq | Shooting with a machine gun | To send a message to Iraq |
Musa Abu Zammat | M | Egyptian | January 3, 2018 | Sinai, Egypt | Shooting | Smuggling weapons from Rafah to Gaza, as well as collaborating with Hamas and the al-Qassam Brigades |
Muhannad Touqan Abu Ammar | M | Syrian Druze | August 2, 2018 | As-Suwayda, Syria | Beheading | Failure to pay Ransom |
Louisa Vesterager Jespersen | F | Danish | December 17, 2018 | Toubkal, Morocco | Beheading and stabbing | Revenge for the Battle of Hajin |
Maren Ueland | F | Norwegian | December 17, 2018 | Toubkal, Morocco | Beheading and stabbing | Revenge for the Battle of Hajin |
Sgt. Christopher Omogbai | M | Nigerian | December 8, 2019 | Borno, Nigeria | Shooting | To send a message to Nigerian soldiers and law enforcement |
Sgt. Yakubu Bandi | M | Nigerian | December 8, 2019 | Borno, Nigeria | Shooting | To send a message to Nigerian soldiers and law enforcement |
Sgt. Yusuf Sulaiman | M | Nigerian | December 8, 2019 | Borno, Nigeria | Shooting | To send a message to Nigerian soldiers and law enforcement |
11 Nigerian Christians | M | Nigerian | December 26, 2019 | Borno, Nigeria | Beheading and shooting | Revenge for the deaths of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Abul-Hasan al-Muhajir, also to send a message to Christians |
Unnamed Nigerian Christian | M | Nigerian | January 18, 2020 | Borno, Nigeria | Shooting | To send a message to Nigerian Christians |
Sol. Dandulum Sanjaman Daniel | M | Chadian | April 25, 2020 | Mayo-Kebbi, Chad | Shooting | To send a message to Chad |
Insp. Johanah James | M | Nigerian | June 11, 2020 | Borno, Nigeria | Shooting | To send a message to Nigeria |
LCpl. Emannuel Oscar | M | Nigerian | June 11, 2020 | Borno, Nigeria | Shooting | To send a message to Nigeria |
5 Nigerian Christians | M | Nigerian | December 29, 2020 | Borno, Nigeria | Shooting | To send a message to Nigerian Christians |
11 Hazara Shi’ites | M | Pakistani Hazara | January 3, 2021 | Machh, Pakistan | Exsanguination | To persecute Hazaras and Shi’ite Muslims |
Nabil Habashi Salama | M | Coptic Egyptian | April 17, 2021 | Sinai, Egypt | Shooting | To send a message and warning to Coptic Christians in Egypt |
2 Egyptian tribal fighters | M | Egyptian | April 17, 2021 | Sinai, Egypt | Shooting | Fighting alongside the Egyptian army |
20 Nigerian Christians | M | Nigerian | May 10, 2022 | Borno, Nigeria | Beheading and shooting | Revenge for the deaths of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi and Abu Hamza Al-Qurashi, also to send a message to Christians |
Sol. Mohammud Abdullahi | M | Nigerien | July 10, 2022 | Diffa, Niger | Shooting | To send a message to the people of Diffa and Nigerien soldiers |
4 Cameroonian Christians | M | Cameroonian | January 9, 2024 | Bargaram, Cameroon | Shooting | Revenge for the Israeli assault and airstrikes in Gaza that started in 2023, also to send a message to Christians and Jews |
Sol. Kali | M | Nigerian | April 16, 2024 | Borno, Nigeria | Shooting | To send a message to Nigeria |
By June 2014, according to United Nations reports, ISIL had killed hundreds of prisoners of war [6] and over 1,000 civilians. [7] [8] [9] Specific incidents involving the killing of military prisoners including the mass killing of up to 250 Syrian Army soldiers near Tabqa Air base, [6] and killings that took place in Camp Speicher (1,095–1,700 Iraqi soldiers shot and "thousands" more "missing") [10] [11] and the Shaer gas field (200 Syrian soldiers shot). [12] ISIL was reported to have beheaded about 100 foreign fighters as deserters who tried to leave Raqqa. [13]
Among the known killings of religious and minority group civilians carried out by ISIL are those in the villages and towns of Qiiniyeh (70–90 Yazidis killed), Hardan (60 Yazidis killed), Sinjar (200–500 Yazidis killed), Ramadi Jabal (60–70 Yazidis killed), Dohula (50 Yazidis killed), Khana Sor (100 Yazidis killed), Hardan (250–300 Yazidis killed), al-Shamal (dozens of Yazidis killed), Kocho (400 Yazidis killed and 1,000 abducted), Jadala (14 Yadizis killed) [16] and Beshir (700 Shia Turkmen killed),[ citation needed ] and others committed near Mosul (670 Shia inmates of the Badush prison killed),[ citation needed ] and in Tal Afar prison, Iraq (205 Yazidis killed for refusing conversion). [16]
ISIL has tortured and murdered both local and foreign journalists, [17] [18] creating what Reporters Without Borders calls "news blackholes" in areas controlled by ISIL. ISIL fighters have reportedly been given written directions to kill or capture journalists. [19]
ISIL has also murdered aid workers.
A beheading video is a video which depicts a live murder in which a hostage or victim is shown to be graphically decapitated, or the head is displayed in the aftermath. Such videos are typically distributed mostly through the Internet, and are often employed by groups seeking to instill shock or terror into a population. Although beheading has been a widely employed public execution method since the ancient Greeks and Romans, videos of this type only began to arise in 2002 with the beheading of Daniel Pearl and the growth of the Internet in the Information Age, which allowed groups to anonymously publish these videos for public consumption. The beheadings shown in these videos are usually not performed in a "classical" method — decapitating a victim quickly with a blow from a sword or axe — but by the relatively slow and torturous process of slicing and sawing the victim's neck, while still alive, with a knife.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian civil war from August to December 2014. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
The persecution of Christians by the Islamic State involves the systematic mass murder of Christian minorities, within the regions of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Nigeria controlled by the Islamic extremist group Islamic State. Persecution of Christian minorities climaxed following the Syrian civil war and later by its spillover but has since intensified further. Christians have been subjected to massacres, forced conversions, rape, sexual slavery, and the systematic destruction of their historical sites, churches and other places of worship.
James Wright Foley was an American journalist and video reporter. While working as a freelance war correspondent during the Syrian Civil War, he was abducted on November 22, 2012, in northwestern Syria. He was murdered by decapitation in August 2014 purportedly as a response to American airstrikes in Iraq, thus becoming the first American citizen executed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Steven Joel Sotloff was an American-Israeli journalist. In August 2013, he was kidnapped in Aleppo, Syria, and held captive by militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). On September 2, 2014, ISIS released a beheading video, showing one of its members beheading Sotloff. Following Sotloff's beheading, U.S. President Barack Obama stated that the United States would take action to "degrade and destroy" ISIS. President Obama also signed an Executive Order dated June 24, 2015, in the presence of the Sotloff family and other hostage families, overhauling how the U.S. handles American hostages held abroad by groups such as ISIS.
Mohammed Emwazi was a British militant of Kuwaiti origin seen in several videos produced by the Islamist extremist group Islamic State (IS) showing the beheadings of a number of captives in 2014 and 2015. A group of his hostages nicknamed him "John" since he was part of a four-person terrorist cell with English accents whom they called 'The Beatles'; the press later began calling him "Jihadi John".
The 2014 rescue mission in Syria was an American led effort to locate and rescue hostages being held by Islamic State (IS) forces. Plans to rescue the hostages were accelerated after the execution of journalist James Foley, Steven Sotloff, and Kayla Mueller by IS militants. A total of 14 hostages were held hostage by the IS at an undisclosed location. Though no soldiers were killed, the mission failed to locate and rescue the hostages.
Beginning in 2014, a number of people from various countries were beheaded by the Islamic State (IS), a radical Sunni Jihadist group operating in Iraq and Syria as well as elsewhere. In January 2014, a copy of an IS penal code surfaced describing the penalties it enforces in areas under its control, including multiple beheadings. Beheading videos have been frequently posted by IS members to social media. Several of the recorded beheadings were conducted by Mohammed Emwazi, whom the media referred to as "Jihadi John" before his identification. The beheadings received wide coverage around the world and attracted international condemnation. Political scientist Max Abrahms posited that IS may be using well-publicized beheadings as a means of differentiating itself from Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and identifying itself with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the al-Qaeda member who beheaded Daniel Pearl. The publicised beheadings represent a small proportion of a larger number of total people killed following capture by IS.
A Second Message to America is an undated beheading video, depicting the death of Steven Sotloff, published by the Islamic State media department Al-Furqan Media Productions.
"The Beatles" was the nickname for an Islamic State terrorist group composed of four British militants. The group was named by their hostages after the English rock group The Beatles, who referred to the members as "John", "Paul", "George", and "Ringo".
David Haines was a British aid worker who was captured by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in early 2013 and beheaded in early September 2014.
Peter Edward Kassig, also known as Abdul-Rahman Kassig, was an American aid worker who was beheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Alan Henning was an English taxicab driver-turned-volunteer humanitarian aid worker. He became the fourth Western hostage killed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) with his killing publicised in a beheading video.
The condition of human rights in the territory controlled by the Islamic State (IS) is considered to be among the worst in the world. The Islamic State's policies included acts of genocide, torture and slavery. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) stated in November 2014 that the Islamic State "seeks to subjugate civilians under its control and dominate every aspect of their lives through terror, indoctrination, and the provision of services to those who obey". Many Islamic State actions of extreme criminality, terror, recruitment and other activities have been documented in the Middle East.
The portrayal of ISIL in American media has largely been negative. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has been linked in the American media to several atrocities throughout the Middle East. Most recently U.S. coverage has linked ISIL members to burning alive the Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh, the beheadings of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and most recently, because the perpetrator of the June 2016 Orlando mass shooting- America's second deadliest- reportedly pledged allegiance to ISIL and its leader in a phone call to 911 operators just before the incident. The American public was introduced to ISIL with these actions. This contrasts with the renewed prominence of al-Qaeda after the September 11 attacks in the media. That coverage focused on the United States' response to the attacks, while the coverage of ISIL started with the organization itself and evolved to cover America's potential strategy.
The Timeline of the War in Iraq covers the War in Iraq, a war which erupted that lasted in Iraq from 2013 to 2017, during the first year of armed conflict.
In early 2014, the jihadist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant captured extensive territory in Western Iraq in the Anbar campaign, while counter-offensives against it were mounted in Syria. Raqqa in Syria became its headquarters. The Wall Street Journal estimated that eight million people lived under its control in the two countries.
This article contains a timeline of events from January 2015 to December 2015 related to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS). This article contains information about events committed by or on behalf of the Islamic State, as well as events performed by groups who oppose them.
Alexanda Amon Kotey, known as Jihadi George, is a stateless former British citizen, drug dealer, and member of the Beatles cell serving life in prison at the ADX Florence supermax prison in Colorado for providing material support to the Islamic State and hostage taking resulting in death. Kotey has denied being a member of the "Beatles" but has admitted to serving in the Islamic State in Syria. He is serving eight concurrent life sentences without the possibility of parole.
El Shafee Elsheikh, known as Jihadi Ringo, is a Sudanese Wahhabi terrorist who took part in atrocities of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as one of the four so-called Jihadi Beatles. He was found guilty of eight charges of hostage taking and murder by an American court in 2022 and later sentenced to eight life sentences without the possibility of parole.
The Kassigs acknowledged on Thursday that they adopted Peter as an infant.