A Japanese hostage captured by Islamic State (ISIS) militants was said to have been killed after a deadline passed for Japan to pay a $200 million ransom to secure his release.
Haruna Yukawa, a self-styled security contractor, was beheaded, according to a Twitter post today from SITE Intel Group, based in Bethesda, Maryland, which monitors terrorist activity. A video was released showing the other Japanese hostage, war correspondent Kenji Goto, pleading for his life and asking for the release of a woman imprisoned in Jordan for allegedly attempting to take part in a suicide bombing, according to the Twitter post.
ISIS sought to punish the Japanese government for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Jan. 17 pledge of $200 million in non-military aid for nations fighting the militant group, setting the ransom at the same amount. The group set a 72-hour deadline in a separate video released on Jan. 20 that showed the two men kneeling before a knife-wielding militant who said Japan must pay “otherwise, this knife will become your nightmare.”
On a six-day Middle East trip that ended the day the first video was released, Abe said in a speech in Cairo that allowing terrorism and weapons of mass destruction to spread there would impart an “immeasurable” loss on the region. He later denounced the kidnappings as an “unforgivable” act and said his government would never cave to terrorism, pledging to do everything possible to secure their release.
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