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IS affiliate claims beheading Croatian hostage kidnapped in Egypt

Xinhua, August 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Islamic State affiliate in Egypt claimed on Wednesday to have beheaded the kidnapped Croatian hostage, according to an image the group posted online that purportedly shows the victime's body.

According to the foreign ministry, the Croatian hostage named Tomislav Salopek was kidnapped in July.

On Wednesday, an extremist group, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, released a video in which Salopek said his captors would kill him unless the Egyptian government releases Muslim women allegedly held in prisons within 48 hours.

Under the online picture, the IS wrote "the Croatian hostage was beheaded, whose country took part in war against the Islamic State, and after the 48 hours have passed without Egyptian government or his country intervention to rescue him."

Yet the authenticity of the online picture couldn't be verified at the moment.

On Friday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met his Croatian counterpart Vesna Pusic to discuss ways to release the Croatian kidnapped citizen.

Egypt has been facing militant insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula following the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. Sinai-based Ansar Beit al-Maqdis group which claimed most of the anti-security attacks in Egypt has declared Sinai as an Islamic Province last year.

According to strategic experts, the IS affiliate in Egypt has sought more technical changes in operations, as the group shifted from its militant attacks against the security men to abduction of foreigners working in Egypt and assaulting of foreign missions. Endit