KHALIL MAZRAAWI via Getty Images
A video circulating on social media on Tuesday appears to show the murder of a Jordanian fighter pilot by militants of the Islamic State group.
Supporters shared a video purporting to show Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh dressed in an orange jumpsuit standing in a cage, before being burned alive.
The authenticity of the footage could not be confirmed.
Al-Kaseasbeh was a member of a prominent family in Jordan. He was taken captive by the Islamic State group after his plane was shot down over Syria in December. Later that month, the extremist group released what it said was an interview with the captured pilot in its online magazine.
Last week, Islamic State group militants publicly threatened to kill al-Kaseasbeh, alongside Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, unless Jordan released a female suicide bomber held on death row since 2006. Sajida al-Rishawi was sentenced to death by a Jordanian court following her role in the deadly 2005 attack on Amman’s Radisson SAS Hotel. Jordan had indicated throughout the week that it was willing to release al-Rishawi, but the government in Amman insisted on receiving proof that al-Kaseasbeh was alive.
On Saturday, the Islamic State released released a video that appeared to show Goto's beheading. He had been held by the militants since the fall.
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