IS releases video of execution of 5 media activists

(Baonghean.vn) - On June 26, the self-proclaimed terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS) released a video showing the execution of five media activists working in an IS-occupied city in eastern Syria.

IS has made beheading hostages a key element in its campaign of terror and territorial conquest. Photo: Telegraph.

The 15-minute video was released online on June 26, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the five media activists had been detained by IS since October 2015 and were believed to have been killed in December 2015.

SOHR head Rami Aburrahman confirmed that one of the victims in the video had cooperated with SOHR.

According to Mr. Aburrahman, news of the executions was suppressed because no bodies appeared and the victims' families feared retribution if they reported the deaths of their children.

Previously, Reporters Without Borders rated Syria as the most dangerous place in the world for journalists and media.

Since 2011, when the conflict broke out in Syria, there have been dozens of kidnappings and killings of journalists, such as the case of three Spanish journalists in 2013 or the execution of American journalist James Foley a year later by IS.

The video was posted online as IS is facing heavy military pressure from many countries, including the US-led coalition, targeting the group's militants in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

Lan Ha

(According to AP)