A video released by ISIS Jan. 13, 2015 claims to show a child killing two Russian “spies.” Obtained by AB...
A notorious ISIS
fighter featured in the shocking video this month of a boy appearing to
execute two prisoners with a handgun has been killed in battle, a
counter-terrorism official said today.
Abu Saad al-Dagestani was the nom de guerre of an ISIS terrorist shown
in the gruesome Jan. 13 tape overseeing what ISIS claimed was the
execution of two alleged "Russian spies" by a boy under 11. Al-Dagestani
was first reported killed in jihadi tweets on Jan. 15, which claimed he
was "martyred" near the embattled Kurdish town of Kobani on Syria's
border with Turkey.
"We do think he was killed," a counter-terrorism official familiar with
military operations around Kobani by the U.S.-led coalition told ABC
News today.
The video, apparently produced by an ISIS media outlet and shared on
Twitter, was seven minutes long and featured “confessions” by the two
men. In a heavily-edited section, the boy, called a “lion’s cub,” was
shown firing a pistol at the heads of the men, who each fall, apparently
lifeless.
The boy appeared to have long hair and was dressed in black next to the
adult overseeing him, al-Dagestani -- whose true identity is not known
but was believed to be among many foreign fighters from Dagestan or Chechnya -- who wore a long beard, winter cap and carried both a pistol and a shoulder-slung rifle.
Officials declined to comment on the video's authenticity, but military
sources and others said they suspected the executions were staged,
noting the absence of bullet impacts and blood splatter. Another former
counter-terrorism official, however, previously told ABC News the
murders looks fairly real to him.
ISIS is well known for its sophisticated disinformation program, which
is part of a highly-sophisticated media messaging committee that
specializes in shocking western audiences with cinematic scenes of
mass-decapitations and executions.
ISIS releases through its local affiliates in Syria and Iraq often
multiple videos a day they produce depicting horrific executions for a
variety of alleged violations of religious Shariah law or their own twisted rules. Most involve beheadings or amputating limbs in graphic bloodlettings.
Tweets announcing the death of al-Dagestani appeared on both ISIS-linked accounts as well as anti-ISIS Peshmerga accounts.
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