Peter Kassig's execution may have been faked by Jihadi John after the US hostage was killed in an US-led airstrike, according to extraordinary claims from the leader of a Syrian underground group.
Speaking
over Skype from a hiding place near the Turkish border, the head of the
anti-ISIS resistance group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently claimed
there are reports that Mr Kassig died on November 5, when coalition
fighter planes and drones pounded Tel-Abyad in northern Syria.
The extraordinary allegation could not be independently verified.
The
claims come among increased speculation over why Mr Kassig's full body
was not shown in the video. Unlike ISIS' previous sickening filmed
murders, he did not speak directly to camera before being killed and his
body was not shown after the murder.
U.S.
sources have suggested that Mr Kassig could have been killed before the
video was shot because he did not cooperate with the jihadists, either
refusing to give a final speech on camera or possibly even fighting back
while the murder was taking place.
American
forces have previously attempted a daring rescue of U.S. hostages and
President Obama has said that he would make all efforts to rescue U.S.
citizens if their location could be identified.
Western
planes have carried out a series of raids on the Isis weapons stockpile
and refinery where Peter Kassig is claimed to have been hit but if
there had been any intelligence suggesting where he was being held such
strikes would have been highly unlikely to be authorized.
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Location of video: Raqqa is Being
Slaughtered Silently claimed to have pinpointed the execution site used
by ISIS in their latest sickening video. The group identified a cluster
of buildings in the background of ISIS' latest video and matched them up
with those on desert road in the north of the town
Questions: Experts say the reason
Peter Kassig (pictured) does not appear alive in ISIS' latest sickening
video could be either due to him having been killed during an earlier
American airstrike, or because he refused to give a final speech on
camera or fought back while the murder was taking place
The
campaign group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently also claimed to have
pinpointed the exact location used by ISIS in their latest sickening
video - which also showed a group of Syrian soldiers being brutally
murdered by a large number of unmasked militants.
The
resistance group produced a map to show the location in the northern
suburbs of the small by highly symbolic Syrian town of Dabiq, north of
Aleppo. The terror group's de facto capital is Raqqa, where previous
filmed murders featuring the militant known as 'Jihadi John' are
understood to have been filmed.
But
their most controversial allegation was that Mr Kassig could have been
killed by accident in an American airstrike in Tel-Abyad. US Central
Defence Command have previously announced that an onslaught destroyed an
ISIS weapons stockpile in the town.
The
resistance leader, a 22 year old medical student who uses the nom de
guerre Abu Ibrahim Raqqawi, said in an interview: 'I think ISIS didn't
execute Peter. An ISIS soldier told me this morning that Peter died in
an airstrike on 5th November in Tel-Abyad and that is why they didn't
show a video of the execution.
'The
soldier was one of the first who arrived on the scene to secure it
after an airstrike hit the Islamic State court building in Tel-Abyad. He
said there was immediate high security and nobody was permitted entry
to the building, not even ISIS fighters. Then two bodies were taken out
of the building and put into a speeding car.'
Sickening: The latest ISIS video
showed a group of Syrian soldiers being marched along a desert road in
Dabiq and brutally murdered by a large number of unmasked militants
Mr Raqqawi claims that the soldier said one of the bodies was that of Mr Kassig.
The
British thug known as Jihadi John allegedly then used the remains to
stage the barbaric video: 'I think that is why there is a lot of blood
on the face and no body -- just a head,' said Mr Raqqawi.
He
did not suggest that the US knew Peter Kassig was being held at the
Isis target - instead hinting that if true it would simply be a terrible
accident.
U.S.
Central Command was not immediately available for comments, but a
message on its website reads: 'U.S. and partner nation military forces
continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria November 5-7 using fighter,
bomber and remotely piloted aircraft to conduct eight airstrikes….. One
airstrike near Tall Abyad destroyed an ISIL weapons stockpile.'
MailOnline has requested a comment from the Pentagon.
ISIL is an alternative acronym for ISIS commonly used by the United States military.
Previous claims by the Raqqa group have been supported by British intelligence sources.
Chilling: The 16 followers of Jihadi John prepare to behead the Syrian soldiers they have held hostage
One
of America's leading forensic pathologists, Dr Michael M. Baden, told
MailOnline that it was possible that such an execution could be staged.
Stressing
that his opinion was based solely on his professional experience, since
there is no access to the remains or authenticated photographs, he
said: 'I'd have thought that if Mr Kasssig was killed by an American
airstrike, revealing that would have had more shock value.
But
he added that it was possible that a head removed from an already dead
person's body could easily be made to look as though the individual had
been murdered by beheading.
'When
there's a death in an explosion such as an airstrike, assuming the
cause of death is traumatic blunt force injuries to the body elsewhere
than the head...there would be nothing to prevent a sharp dissection
being made to resemble an execution by beheading.'
Dr
Baden is a former chief medical examiner for New York City. He has been
an expert witness in numerous high profile criminal cases, including
the murder trial of OJ Simpson, and was chairman of the pathology panel
of a Congressional investigation into the assassination of President
John Kennedy.
Militant: Peter Kassig's execution may
have been faked by Jihadi John (pictured) after the hostage was killed
in an US-led airstrike, according to the leader of resistance
group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently
Mr
Raqqawi's group of non-partisan pacifists - who oppose both the Syrian
regime and Jihadi John's fundamentalists - have been risking their lives
to publicise ISIS atrocities.
One of his supporters reportedly was shot through the head in a public execution after he was traced on Facebook.
Mr
Raqqawi also claimed to have matched up footage of the executions of
the first hostages, American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff,
with photos of a hillside near Ittihad University in the ISIS
stronghold of Raqqa.
The resistance leader said that Jihadi John brazenly was using the area as a killing ground.
A British intelligence source told Mail Online that the security services had received similar accounts.
The
New York Times reported that the beheadings of Mr Foley, Mr Sotloff,
and two UK aid workers, Alan Henning and David Haines, each appeared to
be filmed on the hill near Raqqa
In
contrast, Mr Kassig's severed head appears in the final two minutes of a
nearly 16-minute video which Mr Raqqawi says was filmed in the desert
town Dabiq - 30 miles north of the city of Aleppo.
The
group identified a cluster of buildings in the background of ISIS'
latest video and matched them up with those on desert road in the north
of the town.
Peter Kassig is pictured while working as an aid worker in Syria before
his capture. His murder is not actually shown in the latest film and he
does not deliver a final message as other hostages have
'Raqqawi's
account makes sense,' an expert told Mail Online. 'If ISIS really
executed Peter, they would have shown it, not just his head between the
boots of Jihadi John. This video is not keeping with their style at all.
'
The
footage of Mr. Kassig's head is 'markedly less professional' than the
previous execution videos, another terrorism expert, Jean-Charles
Brisard, told The New York Times.
'We
know that the past executions were filmed from multiple perspectives,
so perhaps something happened here that prevented them from doing so.'
Over
the weekend new details emerged that Jihadi John may have been injured
during an airstrike in Iraq on November 8 - three days after the
American bombing raid in Tel-Abyad that is alleged to have killed Mr
Kassig.
As well as Jihadi John, those reportedly hurt or possibly even killed included ISIS' leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
A
well-placed independent source told the Mail on Sunday that the
airstrike took place in Al Qaim, in Anbar Province, Western Iraq while
approximately 30 tribal elders from various parts of Syria and Iraq
gathered to pledge allegiance to Al-Baghdadi.
HOW USING DABIQ AS LOCATION FOR LATEST SICKENING EXECUTIONS EVOKES A 1,300 APOCALYPTIC PROPHECY THAT IS FUELLING ISIS FANATICS' BELIEF OF APOCALYPTIC BETWEEN A MUSLIM ARMY AND AN 'INFIDEL HORDE'
The
latest ISIS video featuring a brutal filmed murder is understood to
have been filmed in Dabiq - an area of increasing symbolic importance to
Islamic State terrorists.
As
well as naming their English-language propaganda magazine after the
small desert village, a 1,300 year old prophecy predicting Dabiq as the
location of an apocalyptic battle between Muslims and an 'infidel horde'
is understood to be fueling the warped imaginations of the fanatics.
The
town, which is in Aleppo province, was captured from the Free Syrian
Army in August and prompted streams of highly romanticized propaganda in
which ISIS militants identified it as the first step towards ushering
in the Apocalypse.
A key feature of this prophecy invovles attracting the 'infidel horde' into Dabiq for a huge ground battle.
ISIS has even named its official magazine, which reinforces its extremist views, 'Dabiq' (two editions above)
It
is notable that in the latest sickening video, the militant known as
Jihadi John is now urging Britain and America to send their troops to
fight in Syria, rather than to leave the Islamic State alone as he had
done in previous videos.
'Here
we are - burying the first American crusader in Dabiq... Eagerly
waiting for the remainder of your armies to arrive,' he says.
The
1,300-year-old hadith, which is a report of the deeds, teachings and
sayings of the Prophet Mohammed, refers to the 'horde' flying 80 banners
as they take on a Muslim army in the Syrian town of Dabiq.
It warns of a 'malahim' - the equivalent to Armageddon in Christian teachings – in which the Muslims ultimately prevail.
ISIS
supporters on social media have started comparing recent developments
in Syria to the prophecy amid warnings the 'malahim' is coming.
Islamic
State fighters are said to have drawn on the prophecy even more so
since conquering Dabiq in August and the town's name has become a byword
for the struggle against the West.
The terrorist group has even named its official magazine 'Dabiq', in which it pushes its extremist views and reports victories.
Supporters
appear to be convinced of the prophecy's validity, with one writing on
Twitter: 'Dabiq will happen for certain... The U.S. and its allies will
descend on Syria once they see that the air campaign has failed. That is
a promise by God and his Messenger.'
Another,
from Tunisia, wrote. 'The lions of Islam have raised the banner of the
Caliphate in Dabiq. Now they await the arrival of the Crusader army.'
Shadi Hamid, a fellow at the Brookings Institute, said the hadith is heavily relied upon by ISIS because it 'raises morale'.
He said: 'It is fair to assume that the vast majority of (ISIS) fighters believe in this type of talk.'
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