Islamic State insurgents released a video yesterday Tuesday August 19th purportedly showing the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley (pictured above), who had gone missing in Syria nearly two years ago, and images of another U.S. journalist whose life they said depended on U.S. action in Iraq.
The video, titled "A Message To America," was posted on social media sites. It was not immediately possible to verify its authenticity.
Foley, who has reported in the Middle East for five years, was kidnapped on Nov. 22, 2012, by unidentified gunmen. Steven Sotloff, who appeared at the end of the video, went missing in northern Syria while he was reporting in July 2013.
A Twitter account set up by his family to help find him said early on Wednesday: "We know that many of you are looking for confirmation or answers. Please be patient until we all have more information, and keep the Foleys in your thoughts and prayers."
The White House said that U.S. intelligence agents were working to verify the authenticity of a video.
The Islamic State had not previously executed American citizens publicly. The video was posted after the United States resumed air strikes in Iraq for the first time since the end of the U.S. occupation in 2011.
The Sunni militant group has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria in areas it controls.
The video opened with a clip of U.S. President Barack Obama saying he had authorized strikes in Iraq.
Islamic State insurgents released a video yesterday Tuesday August 19th purportedly showing the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley (pictured above), who had gone missing in Syria nearly two years ago, and images of another U.S. journalist whose life they said depended on U.S. action in Iraq.
The video, titled "A Message To America," was posted on social media sites. It was not immediately possible to verify its authenticity.
Foley, who has reported in the Middle East for five years, was kidnapped on Nov. 22, 2012, by unidentified gunmen. Steven Sotloff, who appeared at the end of the video, went missing in northern Syria while he was reporting in July 2013.
A Twitter account set up by his family to help find him said early on Wednesday: "We know that many of you are looking for confirmation or answers. Please be patient until we all have more information, and keep the Foleys in your thoughts and prayers."
The White House said that U.S. intelligence agents were working to verify the authenticity of a video.
The Islamic State had not previously executed American citizens publicly. The video was posted after the United States resumed air strikes in Iraq for the first time since the end of the U.S. occupation in 2011.
The Sunni militant group has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria in areas it controls.
The video opened with a clip of U.S. President Barack Obama saying he had authorized strikes in Iraq.