ISIS claims U.S. captive died in airstrike
Aid worker’s name had been withheld till now
Beirut • A statement attributed to Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham extremists claimed an American woman held hostage by the group was killed Friday, allegedly in a Jordanian airstrike on their stronghold of Raqqa, northern Syria.
The woman was identified as Kayla Jean Mueller, an American who went to Syria to do aid work, but there was no independent verification of the claim and the United States said it had no evidence of her death.
Ms. Mueller, 26, of Prescott, Ariz., is the only known remaining U.S. hostage held by ISIS. Journalist Austin Tice, of Houston, disappeared in August 2012 while covering Syria’s civil war. It’s not clear what entity is holding him, but it is not believed to be ISIS or the Syrian government, his family has said.
If her death is confirmed, she would be the fourth American to die in ISIS captivity. Three other Americans — journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid worker Peter Kassig — were beheaded by the group.
Friday’s statement, which appeared on a militant website commonly used by ISIS and was also distributed by ISIS-affiliated Twitter users, said Ms. Mueller was killed during Friday prayers in airstrikes that targeted “the same location for more than an hour.”
It published photos allegedly of the bombed site, showing a severely damaged, brown three-storey building — but offered no proof or images of the woman.
No ISIS members were killed in the airstrikes, the statement further claimed, raising questions of whether Ms. Mueller was alone in the building and whether she was indeed killed by the attacks.
The Jordanian government said it was highly skeptical of the claim, describing it as a likely propaganda stunt, and American officials said they were looking into the report.
“But as a first reaction, we think it ’s illogical and we are highly skeptical about it,” said Mohammed al-Momani, a Jordanian government spokesman.
“How could they identify a Jordanian warplane ... in the sky? What was the American lady doing in a weapons warehouse?”
“It’s part of their criminal propaganda. They have lied that our pilot [Lieut. Muath al-Kaseasbeh] is alive and tried to negotiate, claiming he is alive, while they had killed him weeks before,” he added.
Ms. Mueller had been working in Turkey, helping Syrian refugees, according to a 2013 article in The Daily Courier, her hometown newspaper. She said she was drawn to help with the situation in Syria.
“For as long as I live, I will not let this suffering be nor- mal,” she said. “It’s important to stop and realize what we have, why we have it and how privileged we are. And from that place, start caring and get a lot done.” Her identity had not been disclosed until now out of fears for her safety.
In Jordan, a prominent jihadi preacher lashed out against ISIS for burning Lieut. Muath al-Kaseasbeh to death, saying the action was “not acceptable in any religion.”
Abu Mohammed al-Maqdesi, considered a spiritual mentor for many al-Qaida militants, spoke a day after being released from more than three months in detention in Jordan.
His release and harsh criticism of ISIS come at a time when the Jordanian government is trying to win broad popular backing for intensified airstrikes against the militants in response to the killing of the pilot.
In Amman, several thousand people, including Queen Rania, marched in support of King Abdullah after noon prayers. The crowd unfurled a large Jordanian flag and held up banners in support of the king’s pledge of a tough military response to the pilot’s killing.
“We all stand united with the Hashemite leadership in facing terrorism,” one banner read.