Quantcast
Channel: Terrorism
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 49

ISIS Hostage John Cantlie 'Reports' From Kobani

0
0

The Islamic State is no stranger to brazen PR moves. Its propaganda videos of mass executions and beheadings are as horrifying as they are shocking, a vicious statement of intent to its Western audience. But on Monday the group changed course slightly by releasing its latest video, a curious report that features British hostage John Cantlie delivering a television "news" standup allegedly from the beleaguered Syrian city of Kobani.

After previously appearing in an orange jumpsuit, similar to those worn by inmates at Guantánamo Bay, Cantlie is now wearing a black shirt, with his hair grown slightly longer. Cantlie says claims that Islamic State fighters have been repulsed from Kobani, on the Syrian-Turkish border, are false and that American airstrikes there have failed to turn the tide in favor of Kobani's Kurdish defenders.

The video's location has not been verified. But if the terrorist group has in fact shipped Cantlie to its front lines, the video represents a strange twist in the militants' propaganda. After beheading four Western hostages on camera starting in late August, the Islamic State began releasing lectures by Cantlie in which he presents the Sunni militant group's perspective on the fight. The latest video in that series, in which Cantlie reveals that he was waterboarded by his captors, was released over the weekend.

"America is very keen for Kobani to become a symbol, a symbol of victory of the coalition that is working together to defeat the Islamic State," Cantlie says in the Kobani video. "But they know, and the mujahideen also know that even with all their air power and all their proxy troops on the ground, even this is not enough to defeat the Islamic State here in Kobani and elsewhere."

At one point, Cantlie emphasizes his alleged proximity to the Turkish border by noting a Turkish flag and the country's tanks behind him.

Cantlie has endured horrific treatment at the hands of his captors. Held hostage for nearly two years, the British photographer has been tortured and deprived of food and watched as his fellow inmates have either been ransomed out by their governments or executed.

His latest dispatch, which he all but certainly was coerced into making, is full of disdain for America's military efforts against the self-proclaimed Islamic State. Cantlie says that although airstrikes have forced the terrorist fighters to recalibrate their use of tanks, the militants have been able to attack Kobani with light weapons and are engaged in house-to-house fighting there. The group's fighters, Cantlie says, have "pushed deep into the heart of the city"; control its eastern and southern sectors; and are mostly "mopping up" their Kurdish opponents. Cantlie describes the U.S. Air Force as "hopeless," after it reportedly dropped two crates of weapons and ammunition on Islamic State positions.

"Contrary to what the Western media would have you believe, it is not an all-out battle here now," Cantlie says. "It is nearly over."

Another video report from inside Kobani by Al Aan TV claims fighting is ongoing and shows Kurdish fighters saying that the Islamic State has been ousted from the city center. Reinforcements from Iraqi Kurdistan are supposed to be arriving soon, and U.S.-led forces continue bombing the area. On Monday, U.S. forces carried out four airstrikes near Kobani, destroying five vehicles and an occupied building. On Sunday, five strikes were launched.

Indeed, Cantlie ends the video with a reference to continued fighting: "Urban warfare is about as nasty and as tough as it gets, and it is something of a specialty of the mujahideen."     


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 49

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images