ISIS beheads American journalist Steven Sotloff, releases video

This the second execution of an American journalist after James Foley's killing last month

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has reportedly beheaded Steven Sotloff, an American freelance journalist who had been earlier kidnapped while reporting on the strife in Syria.   

ISIS on Tuesday night released a video showing the act. In its earlier video of the beheading of GlobalPost.com correspondent James Foley, the organisation had shown a visual of Sotloff and had threatened to kill him as well if their demands were not met. Foley's killing itself was meant as a message to Western powers, the US in particular, to hold off on the aerial bombardment of ISIS forces. 

Sotloff, who described himself on his Twitter profile as a "stand-up philosopher from Miami" had reported from the frontlines of Syria for magazines such as Time and Foreign Policy. 

Reports said the executioner of Sotloff was the same person that killed Foley. 

Brett McGurk, deputy assistant secretary of State for Iran and Iraq, told CNN International that the US government was still trying to authenticate the video.  

In a statement released shortly after news of Sotloff's reported killing, the Council of American-Islamic Relations issued a statement condemning the act as "un-Islamic". 

"No words can describe the horror, disgust and sorrow felt by Muslims in America and worldwide at the unconscionable and un-Islamic violence perpetrated by the terror group ISIS. The criminal actions of ISIS are antithetical to the faith of Islam," CAIR said in a public statement. ""Such brutal acts must face redoubled efforts by people of all faiths and backgrounds to promote peace and justice and to reject the religious divisions these monstrous acts are designed to create."

 

"Our hearts go out to Mr. Sotloff's loved ones and to all the loved ones of those murdered by ISIS," it added.

 

In the latest video, too, the executioner shows another prisoner, a UK citizen by the name of David Hawthorne Haines, who is feared will be ISIS's next victim. 

The latest video comes only a day before US President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet with other leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). 

Over the past few months, ISIS forces have swept through Iraq, capturing large swathes of territory and systematically targeting Shias, Yazidis and other minorities who do not accept the group's ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam. Led by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the ISIS has declared the areas under its control as an Islamic Caliphate, of which al Baghdadi is the self-proclaimed Caliph.