New Hostage Video Shows John Cantlie Claiming that Kobani has Fallen to ISIS

Today, the Islamic State released another video with British hostage John Cantlie. This is the fifth video the Islamic State has created with Cantlie being shown.

Titled “Inside ‘Ayn al-Islam”, the 5 minute and 30 second video takes place in the border city of Kobani, and Cantlie claims that ISIS has overtaken it.

All of the other videos featuring Cantlie present him in the orange jumpsuit that the ISIS prisoners have been known to wear. In this video, however, Cantlie is wearing a black dress shirt and his head is not shaved, as it is in all his other video appearances.

The film begins with an aerial view of Kobani from what the video says is an ISIS drone. While the said drone hums, footage of the rubble and war torn city is shown.

Kobani has been the stage of armed conflict between the Kurds and ISIS for nearly a month. It is a key strategic location that the Kurds have been trying to hold, especially because of its proximity to Turkey as a border city.

John Cantlie, who usually expresses the failure of the U.S. government to rescue the American hostages, emphasizes that ISIS now has major control of Kobani. He stresses that the western media, which has been purporting victory against ISIS in the battle, is lying and has no concrete sources.

“Despite continual American airstrikes, which so far have cost nearly half a billion dollars in total, the mujahidin have pushed deep into the heart of the city,” says Cantlie.

“The western media, and I can’t see any of their journalists here in the city of Kobani, have been saying recently that the Islamic State are on the retreat,” he says. “From where I’m standing right now, I can see large swaths of the city.”

The British hostage then explains that western media is receiving their information from Kurdish military officials and White House representatives who do not have “the slightest intention of telling the truth of what’s happening here on the ground.”

“The battle of Kobani is coming to an end. The mujahidin are just mopping up now, street-to-street and building-to-building.”

The video also mentions U.S. weapons being dropped into the “open arms” of ISIS on accident. Last week, however, the U.S. military said the accidental military drop was destroyed after the airdrop fell off target.

There are still several American hostages held captive by the Islamic State. ISIS has held Cantlie hostage since 2012.