CAIRO: Islamic State’s Egypt-affiliate, Sinai Province, published a still photo of the beheaded body of a Croatian hostage the group had threatened to kill last week, the SITE monitoring service said on Wednesday.
Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the photo, which included a caption that said “killing of the Croatian hostage, due to his country’s participation in the war against Islamic State, after the deadline expired … “.
SITE said the photo was distributed on Twitter on Aug. 12.
A spokesman from the Egyptian Interior Ministry’s press office said: “We have seen this news online but are currently making our own checks. If we confirm that it is indeed true, we will inform the media through a statement.”
Last week, an online video purportedly from Sinai Province showed a man who identified himself as Tomislav Salopek who said the group would kill him in 48 hours if Muslim women in Egyptian jails were not freed.
Ardiseis Egypt, a unit of French firm CGG, which specialises in oil and gas geology, said last week one of its staff had been kidnapped on July 22 while travelling to Cairo.