ISWAP releases a video claiming they beheaded 11 Christian hostages on Christmas day

The Islamic State group in Nigeria, ISWAP, has released a video
claiming to show the killing 11 Christians in Nigeria to “avenge” the
death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during a US raid in Syria in
October.

In the video released by the Islamic State West Africa Province,
the Christian victims are seen pleading with President Muhammadu
Buhari’s administration to help negotiate their release, according
to Ahmad Salkida, a conflict and terrorism reporter in Nigeria.

No details were given about the victims, who were all male, but IS
says they were “captured in the past weeks” in Nigeria’s north-eastern
Borno State.

The 56-second video was produced by the IS “news agency” Amaq. It was
released on 26 December and analysts say it was clearly timed to
coincide with Christmas celebrations.

The killing was filmed in an unidentified outdoor area. One captive
in the middle was shot dead while the other 10 were pushed to the ground
and beheaded.

Explaining the reasons for the execution, the terrorist group said:
“We killed them as revenge for the killings of our leaders including
Abubakar al-Baghdadi and Abul-Hasan Al-Muhajir in Iraq and Syria.”

President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the apparent killings and
urged Nigerians not to let themselves be divided along religious lines.

“We should, under no circumstance, let the terrorists divide us by
turning Christians against Muslims because these barbaric killers don’t
represent Islam and millions of other law-abiding Muslims around the
world,” he said in a statement.

He did not mention the identity of the victims.