Business Standard

IS asks on Twitter: How to kill captured Jordanian pilot

Image

IANS London

The Islamic State (IS) has again put the social media to use for its gory campaign, asking for suggestions on Twitter on how to kill the Jordanian pilot captured last week.

An Arabic hashtag that translates into "suggest a way to kill the Jordanian pilot" has been re-tweeted over a thousand times, The Independent reported Tuesday.

According to the report, IS supporters have posted on Twitter gruesome photographs and recommendations on how to kill the pilot.

Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh, also known as Moaz, was captured by IS fighters Dec 24.

The group published an interview with the pilot in Dabiq, its monthly English language magazine, last week.

 

The interview ended with the question: "Do you know what the Islamic State will do with you?" to which Al-Kasaesbeh replies: "Yes... They will kill me..."

Many of the Twitter posts contained graphic embedded images, including photographs of beheadings and of wounded children. One showed a steamroller captioned with a message that translates into "Goodbye Moaz", while another featured a stock picture saying "Nothing better than the axe".

Other messages link to a video made by a woman who claimed her son was killed by a coalition airstrike. She suggested that shooting or stabbing the pilot would be "merciful".

Some of the individual posts have been re-tweeted over 100 times. These peaked last week and have continued since.

Another hashtag that translates as "We all want to slaughter Moaz" has been tweeted thousands of times too. That hashtag featured doctored images of the pilot with IS soldiers, including one of the man being held by "Jihadi John", the IS member that the group claims was behind the killing of many of the British and US men shown in videos released this year.

But people have also taken to Twitter to post on a hashtag that translates as "We are all Moaz", praising the pilot and offering messages of support for his family.

The messages have been posted by members of Jordan's royal family, with posts by the queen and crown prince of Jordan getting more support than any of the IS posts.

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Dec 30 2014 | 7:56 PM IST

Explore News