A group claiming affiliation with the Islamic State (IS) announced the beheading of a Christian from South Sudan in a video posted on Sunday (Oct. 18).
A masked man who carries out the killing in the video, presumably in Libya, states that he is defending Muslim brothers he claims were persecuted by South Sudan. The world's youngest nation seceded from Sudan in 2011 and is embroiled in an ethnic civil war, but there is no record of any Muslims dying at the hands of Christians there.
In the video, which a group calling itself the Islamic State in Cyrenaica (eastern coastal Libya) released, the victim is identified in an inaudible voice, possibly as Kual Gai Wek, a native of South Sudan who has been living in Libya since 1989. His name does not appear to be Mohamed Al-Ghaid, as reported elsewhere.
The video also shows an enemy soldier, said to be Faraj Al-Saiti, being shot to death in the same area as the beheading. The identity of the South Sudanese Christian has not been verified, and it is unclear when the executions took place.
The IS figure accuses South Sudan of mistreating Muslims despite an interim constitution that defines the country as a secular state.
"Oh Christians in South Sudan, know that as you kill you will be killed, and as you displace our brothers we will do the same," the masked man says. "No safety or shelter for you except that of the Islamic State ... We will fight all of you as you fight us."
The victim is then forced down to his knees and beheaded.
Christians in South Sudan expressed their condolences and asked God to forgive the killers.
IS was shown executing Christians in Libya on two occasions earlier this year. In a video released April 19, IS is seen executing 28 Ethiopian Christians. The Christians were divided into two groups of men being marched to their place of execution with their arms bound behind their backs. One group is held at a coastal area identified as "Wilayat Barqa" (Barqa State) in Libya, and the other is located inland in the desert scrub brush of "Wilayat Fazzan" (Fazzan State), also in Libya.
The men in the desert are shot in the back of their heads. The video switches to the seaside, where the men are beheaded.
In February, IS released a video of the execution of 21 Christians, all but one of them Egyptian. The Ethiopians and the Egyptians who were executed on the beach appear to be executed in the same general area.
IS late last month killed three Assyrian Christians, presumably in Syria, according to an execution video released Oct. 7. In the video, the group threatened to kill some 200 other Christians in Syria unless it receives a ransom of $50,000 each for their release.
The videoed execution is thought to have taken place on Sept. 23, during the Muslim holiday of "Festival of the Sacrifice," according to Arabic-language news media.
