ISIS Threatens to Kill Two Japanese Hostages

Kelseecat65 · #1 ● 01-20-2015, 11:04 AM

Sadly, this probably won't end well for these two men.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Tuesday, January 20, 2015, 2:01 A.M.

ISIS threatens Japanese hostages Kenji Goto Jogo and Haruna Yukawa, demanding $200 million for their freedom in a new video.

A black-clad militant pointed a knife at the heads of two Japanese hostages and demanded $200 million in reparations within 72 hours, a hefty penalty for Japan's financial support of the fight against Islamic State, "otherwise this knife will become your nightmare."

The ultimatum, released Monday in a chilling video, shows two men on their knees in the desert wearing orange jumpsuits who are identified as Kenji Goto Jogo and Haruna Yukawa.

"You have proudly donated $100 million to kill our women and children, to destroy the homes of the Muslims," the militant said to the camera in English and waving a knife for good measure. "So the life of this Japanese citizen will cost you $100 million."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, already in the Middle East as part of a six-day visit, demanded their release. "It is unforgivable and I feel strong resentment," Abe said at a press conference in Jerusalem. "Extremism and Islam are completely different things."

The video, identified as being made by the Islamic State group's al-Furqan media arm and posted on militant websites associated with the extremist group, mirrored other hostage threats made the group.

The man speaking also resembled and sounded like a British militant involved in other beheadings by the Islamic State group, which now holds a third of Iraq and Syria under its self-declared caliphate.

***UPDATE

ISIS video claims one of 2 Japanese hostages beheaded
Quote:
A Western site that monitors videos from the terrorist groups said Saturday that Islamic State had released a video claiming that one of the two Japanese captives, Haruna Yukawa, had been beheaded, but that the ransom demands had been changed for the remaining hostage.

The report could not be independently verified, but the U.S.-based terrorist monitoring organization, SITE Intelligence Group, has received videos in the past that proved to be authentic. SITE said the video had been distributed across several Islamic State-linked Twitter accounts.