A new video, apparently released by the Islamic State, shows 21 Kurdish fighters paraded in cages through the crowded streets in the Iraqi province of Kirkuk.
New Islamic State video shows Peshmerga being paraded through Kirkuk province in cages. Not as gory as previous vids. pic.twitter.com/g2bQTDZg0v
— Shiraz Maher (@ShirazMaher) 21 февраля 2015
The Peshmerga fighters can first be seen in separate cages. They are then interviewed by an Islamic State militant. The video cuts to black after the hostages were forced to kneel in front of their captors.
The fate of the Peshmerga prisoners remains unknown since the footage, titled "Healing the Chest of Those who Believe," does not show the execution. Howver, Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation based in King's College London, assumed that the prisoners were later killed.
Islamic State releases a new video of Peshmerga fighters being paraded through Kirkuk province in cages. pic.twitter.com/uqZLFIJ08B
— Shiraz Maher (@ShirazMaher) 21 февраля 2015
The authenticity of the video has not been confirmed yet. Earlier in February, the brutal Sunni group published a similar video of prisoners paraded in the Kirkuk province.
The latest IS video resembles the one showing the killing of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh, who was burnt alive in a cage earlier this year.
