American aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig 'killed by IS'

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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30073602

Abdul-Rahman with his father, Ed,
fishing on the Ohio River in Indiana in 2011

A video posted online claims to show that Islamic State (IS) militants have killed captured US aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig.

Mr Kassig, also known as Peter, was captured last year.

Mr Kassig was a former US Army Ranger who served in Iraq.

He later trained as an emergency medical technician and founded the Special Emergency Response and Assistance (Sera) organisation, helping to supply camps on both sides of the Syrian border.

He was undertaking a project for Sera when he was captured in October 2013 while travelling to eastern Syria.

Unlike earlier videos, this one revels in gore. Amongst the boiler-suited captives murdered in cold blood is a man IS says is former US soldier Peter Kassig, who converted to Islam and changed his name to Abdul-Rahman.

Neither his conversion, nor the fact that he was helping refugees when he was captured a year ago, appear to have saved him.

The latest video did not show the person identified as Mr Kassig being beheaded. Also unlike previous videos, it did not show other Western captives or directly threaten to behead anyone else.

Mr Kassig's murder is a sign of frustration that IS militants are unable to hit back at the coalition air strikes that have driven them off key sites like the Mosul and Haditha dams, and prevented them from seizing the town of Kobane.

Mr Kassig's parents last month released extracts of a letter written by their son, in which he said: "Don't worry Dad, if I do go down, I won't go thinking anything but what I know to be true. That you and mom love me more than the moon and the stars."

The US National Security Council said it was investigating the video.