The Takfiri ISIL group has released a video showing John Cantlie, a British journalist kidnapped in Syria four years ago, alive in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
The propaganda video by the ISIL-affiliated Amaq network shows an emaciated Cantlie speaking in English to the camera in the style of a news report similar to previous videos in which he appeared.
The footage was not dated but the destroyed bridges seen behind Cantlie in the video suggest it was shot in recent weeks.
The US-led coalition has destroyed several bridges in central Mosul over the past few weeks.
Tens of thousands of Iraqi troops, backed by volunteer forces, on October 17 launched a massive operation on Mosul, the last major urban centre in Iraq still controlled by the terrorists.
Cantlie was kidnapped along with fellow journalist James Foley while covering the war in Syria in November 2012.
Foley then became the first of several hostages to be slain by ISIL.
Media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders has condemned ISIL for its “cowardly” use of a hostage in a forced role to promote its propaganda.
Source: AFP
