Thursday, December 21, 2006
Video on Jihadist forums shows beheading of Mahdi Army commander
Security
A beheading video has been circulated amongst jihadist forums on Monday, December 18, 2006, that depicts the grotesque slaying of a man purported to be a commander in Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s al-Mahdi Army [Jeish al-Mahdi]. The 2:41 minute video shows the man blindfolded and bound with his arms tied behind his back, lying on his stomach as the executor uses a small knife to decapitate his head. A voice yells that the executor is a “dog,” but is responded with the justification that he insulted Aisha, a wife of the Prophet Muhammad. It is indicated that the commander was intentionally beheaded slowly and in front of his gang, including his “wicked” father. This gang was then shot to death, though this is not shown in the video.
The accompanying message claims that this Mahdi Army commander, a resident of southern Baghdad, was responsible for the deaths and kidnapping of many Sunni people in al-Dawanem, and a brigade of the Mujahideen Shura Council allegedly captured him three times, but he escaped. In the final capture, they found him beneath a pile of wood in a house after doing a house-to-house search. Allah’s “ruling” was then executed in the form of the beheading. It cannot be confirmed that the Mujahideen Shura Council is responsible for this beheading.
The accompanying message claims that this Mahdi Army commander, a resident of southern Baghdad, was responsible for the deaths and kidnapping of many Sunni people in al-Dawanem, and a brigade of the Mujahideen Shura Council allegedly captured him three times, but he escaped. In the final capture, they found him beneath a pile of wood in a house after doing a house-to-house search. Allah’s “ruling” was then executed in the form of the beheading. It cannot be confirmed that the Mujahideen Shura Council is responsible for this beheading.
