US hostage killed by IS militants

ISLAMIC STATE militants have posted a video online which claims to show the execution of Abdul-Rahman Kassig, a US aid worker.

Kassig was captured whilst travelling to eastern Syria in October 2013, he was at the time undertaking a project for the Special Emergency Response and Assistance organisation (SERA) which he had founded himself. After his training as an emergency medical technician, he founded the organization order to source and deliver aid to countries in need.

Previously, the 26-year-old was a US army ranger that had served in Iraq, he travelled to Lebanon in 2012 to work in the border hospitals to help the refugees before proceeding to travel to Syria.

The video that the militants have recently posted online shows a masked militant standing over a severed head which is said to be Mr Kassig, as well as other Syrian troops being executed.

The US National Security Council are working to determine how authentic the video actually is as a video released in October which showed the killing of British aid worker Alan Henning had also ended with threats to Mr Kassig.