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On January 26, 2015, the information bureau of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Ninawa Province (Mosul region) in Iraq released a video[1] titled "Bombardment of Peaceful Muslims in the City of Mosul." The video shows damage in the city following its shelling by Kurdish Peshmerga forces in late January 2015, and then shows an ISIS fighter beheading a captured Kurdish soldier in retaliation for these hostilities. Before executing the soldier, the fighter makes threats against the U.S., France, Belgium and the Kurds. He threatens that he and his comrades will reach America and behead Barack Obama in the White House; will target France and Belgium with car bombs and explosives, and will behead Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud Barzani.
The following are details:
The video begins with a caption detailing the Peshmerga's actions against the people of Mosul, which states that it "shells the peaceful Muslims of Mosul with American Crusader bombs, and has poisoned dozens of them with asphyxiating gases".[2] Next, the video shows footage of severe damage caused by the shelling, including graphic images of burnt bodies, as well as footage of children being treated at the hospital. One resident testifies how a shell fell on his home, killing infants and children.
In the second part of the film, a group of armed and masked ISIS fighters stand on a Mosul street around a Kurdish soldier who is kneeling on the ground. In front of him are the remains of a missile apparently fired by the Peshmerga. Before beheading the captive, an ISIS fighter delivers "a message to the entire world" in Kurdish (subtitled in Arabic), in which he furiously threatens the U.S. and Obama, France and Belgium, and the Kurds. He says: "This is the fate of anyone who opposes Islam. Know, oh Obama, that we will reach America. Know also that we will cut off your head in the White House and transform America into a Muslim province. And this is my message to France and its sister, Belgium. We advise you that we will come to you with car bombs and explosive charges and we will cut off your heads." Addressing Kurdistan President Barzani, he says: "But as for you, oh Masoud, you dog, we are going to behead you and throw you into the trash bin of history. Know that we are men who fear no one. We will institute the laws of Allah, may he be exalted and praised. This is one of your soldiers' fate, and every time you launch a missile, we will send you back the head of one of your soldiers. You are killing children and bombarding civilians, while claiming that this is forbidden in your constitution."
At the end of the film the fighter, screaming, beheads the prisoner with a knife, to the cheers of people who have gathered to watch.
[1] Alplatformmedia.com, January 26, 2015.
[2] It should be noted that, according to non-ISIS sources, a chlorine storage depot was hit in the Peshmerga shelling of the city, causing poisonous gases to be released (Twitter.com/sonawa1, January 24, 2015).
