A new Isis video has emerged purportedly showing the beheading of three Kurdish peshmerga fighters by the Islamic State, which had earlier threatened to kill 17 captured Kurdish fighters.
The six-minute video showed the characteristic style of execution with the three men dressed in orange jumpsuits and beheaded by their executioners dressed in black.
The video emerged just two days before the Kurdish community is set to celebrate their new year Newroz on Saturday.
The killings are said to be in retaliation to the the Kurdish offensive against the Islamic state, as the peshmergas, backed by the US-led coalition, have been able to retake several territories that were lost to the terror group.
"We warned you before that for every rocket you fire on those under the care of the Islamic State, you will kill one of your prisoners with your own hands," a militant is heard saying in the new video, according to Reuters.
The militants also sent a threat to Iran, which has backed the peshmerga forces in their fight against ISIS.
"To the Muslim Kurdish people: know that our war is not with you, rather it is with those who ventured into an alliance with the Safavids and crusaders to wage war on the Muslims," another militant said.
#ISIS released a video of 3 #Kurdish #Peshmerga beheading pic.twitter.com/sWjbmFD5cn
— Mete Sohtaoğlu (@metesohtaoglu) March 20, 2015
In response to the video, Barham Salih, former prime minister of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), has called on Kurds to mark the new year celebrations this year as "Newroz of defiance", Rudaw reported.
"Newroz should be commemorated in a different way — Newroz is the day when Kawa, the Kurdish Peshmerga of his time, stood against Zuhak the tyrant. This Newroz should be celebrated for affirming the united message of Kurds against Daesh. Support the Peshmerga and Shehidan [martyr] families," he said.
Last month, a video had emerged showing 17 Kurdish prisoners being paraded in cages by ISIS fighters in Kirkuk in Iraq, and it was feared that the jihadists will burn them alive as they did Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh.
