The deadline by ISIS demanding $200 million in exchange for the Japanese hostages has now passed. The Japanese government have not given in to their demands and reports, yet to be confirmed, say the hostages are now dead. However, many sources including Fox News and the Japanese government themselves are seriously questioning the authenticity of the video. Many are calling the ISIS video a fake.
ISIS took to Twitter to say that the hostages had been killed “because of Japan’s choices.” They then warned that a new video was “being sent to production.”
Fox News reports:
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Intelligence sources told Fox News the claim the hostages had been killed could not be confirmed, but said the situation is being monitored as they await release of a new video.
Earlier in the week the Japanese government issued a statement doubting the authenticity of the video saying they believe the video of Japanese hostages to be doctored.
Fox questions authenticity of video too
Fox News reports:
The hostage video showing the hostages wearing orange jump suits and kneeling before a masked, black-clad jihadist may have been faked, experts said. New analysis of the video appears to reveal the message was shot indoors using a “green screen,” and a phony backdrop, according to Veryan Khan, editorial director for the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium. She told The Associated Press the light source on the men in the latest videos appears to be coming from two different directions — as opposed to one bright sun, and said if the video was made outdoors in natural light, the shadows behind them should be going in one direction. Instead, they converge.
“The hostages are visibly bothered by” the bright light, she said.
Although one of the hostage’s jumpsuits flutters in a breeze, Khan said she believes a fan caused the movement and noted that wind in the desert would be noisy and affect the sound quality of the statements being made by the knife-wielding man. It would also kick up dust, and none seems apparent, she said.
Experts poring over the slickly-produced videos believe they were made in an area south of Raqqa in northern Syria, the self-declared capital of the Islamic State group. The killings of the five other hostages took place between August and November. The U.S.-led coalition began targeting IS militants in Syria in mid-September, and has gradually intensified its aerial bombardment of suspected IS infrastructure in both Syria and Iraq.
