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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Peshmerga soldier dressed in a yellow jumpsuit was murdered execution-style with a shot to the back of the head, in an ISIS video posted online Monday, just days after a similar posting before Newroz showed three captive Kurdish soldiers beheaded by the militants.
The 24-minute video -- entirely in Kurdish -- showed the Peshmerga soldier sitting cross-legged on dirt ground in a forest, in front of a gunman with a pistol and a dozen black-clad riflemen around.
"I am from the town of Bamarni in Duhok province,” the Kurdish soldier said, expressionless and steely in the face of death. “Now I am in the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS),” he added, before going on to attack Kurdish authorities with words and phrases often found in ISIS propaganda.
“Many people have misunderstood the Islamic State,” he added. “Until now, no one has come forth for a hostage exchange. The Islamic State urged the KRG for an exchange but they never answered,” he said.
“You all know what is the punishment of anyone who fights the Islamic State, it is death,” declared a young, unmasked gunman with a pistol before shooting the Kurdish soldier from behind.
On Thursday, just before the Newroz feast that Kurds celebrate as their New Year, another ISIS video showed three Peshmerga beheaded by the militants.
That shocking video, again showing Kurdish-speaking ISIS members, prompted Barham Salih, former prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), to declare last Saturday's annual Newroz celebration as "Newroz of defiance."
