TOKYO (AP) — Militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have posted an online warning that the “countdown has begun” for the group to kill a pair of Japanese hostages.
The posting, which appeared Friday, shows a clock counting down to zero along with gruesome images of other hostages who have been beheaded by the group.
ISIS gave Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a 72-hour deadline – which expired Friday – to pay a $200 million ransom for the two hostages. The Friday posting on a forum popular among Islamic State militants and sympathizers did not show any images of the Japanese hostages.
