ISIS burns alive Jordanian pilot it kept hostage

The Islamic State has released a video, purportedly showing Moath al-Kasasbeh, the Jordanian pilot captured in December, being burned alive. The Jordanian government had pleaded with IS to release the hostage in exchange for a captured terrorist.

A member of al-Kasasbeh's family has been informed that he has been killed by the head of the Jordanian armed forces, Reuters has reported. According to national television, Jordan now believes that he was executed as far back as January 3, exactly one month ago, though the government has refused to directly confirm the news to Western news agencies.

The video itself, which was posted on social media, appears to have been a carefully staged production, shot from several angles, and soundtracked with religious hymns. It shows al-Kasasbeh being led out into a square in front of a squadron of masked men, before being placed in a cage. A rope lying outside the cage is then lit up, and the hostage is engorged by flames. The execution is in contrast with the customary beheadings, practiced by the IS.

Al-Kasasbeh was captured after his plane crashed over an IS-controlled part of Syria, following a bombing mission on December 24. The US-led air strikes in the region since September have helped stem IS expansion through Syria and Iraq.

In the past few weeks, Al-Kasasbeh and two Japanese captives have been part of failed negotiations between the Islamic State and Japanese and Jordanian governments.

The Islamic State had first demanded $200 million then the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, a female Iraqi al-Qaeda militant, who is imprisoned in Iran, in exchange for the release of journalist Kenji Goto, and security expert Haruna Yukawa.

Jordan had agreed to let al-Rishawi go, but only if al-Kasasbeh was included in the deal. But by then, he may have already been dead, and the Islamic State simply executed its Japanese hostages without receiving ransom. Culled