Beheading by Salafi jihadist groups

Modern instances of beheadings by Salafi jihadist groups date at least to the early 1990s.

At the beginning of the Bosnian War (1992–95), anywhere from 500 to 6,000 foreign volunteers (mostly from the Gulf States, the Levant, and South Asia) travelled to Bosnia (with the support of the Croatian government at the time) to volunteer for jihad and fight alongside the Bosniaks, who were being heavily persecuted. Most came into Bosnia and Herzegovina under the guise of being volunteer aid workers and freelance journalists, complete with fake identification cards and passports. When they arrived in Bosnia, they formed a volunteer brigade called the El-Mudžahid along with some local Bosniak volunteers, and were affiliated with the 3rd Corps (although they weren't officially absorbed into the Bosnian Army, and also had quite a bit of internal conflict and strife amongst the two organizations due to differing views on Islam, culture, and politics). The El-Mudžahid were notorious for their brutal tactics and ferocious fighting on the battlefield, along with how they treated their POW's. There were several cases of decapitation that happened to POW's, along with being tortured severely before-hand. In the most famous case, there is an amateur video (along with a photo) taken of a foreign fighter decapitating and holding the severed head of a Serb POW up to the camera. Before the subsequent video was taken, 2 Serb POW's (Momir Mitrović and Predrag Knežević) were captured, subjected to severe beatings and had their hands and feet bound together for hours on end. After beating and torturing the prisoners for hours, the foreign fighter slit the throats of the two Serb POW's and then proceeded to decapitate them, to which after they held the head of one of the POW's up in "celebration".[https://balkaninsight.com/2016/04/21/bosnian-serb-soldier-recalls-mujahideen-cutting-off-heads-04-21-2016/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330162433/https://balkaninsight.com/2016/04/21/bosnian-serb-soldier-recalls-mujahideen-cutting-off-heads-04-21-2016/|date=2023-03-30}} "Mujahideen Fighters ‘Cut off Bosnian Serb Soldiers’ Heads'", Balkan Insight, 21 April 2016.

In the First Chechen War (1994–96), the beheading of Yevgeny Rodionov, a Russian soldier who refused to convert to Islam, led some within the Russian Orthodox Church to venerate him as a martyr.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1452496/Boy-soldier-who-died-for-faith-made-saint.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727215648/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1452496/Boy-soldier-who-died-for-faith-made-saint.html|date=2019-07-27}} "Boy soldier who died for faith made 'saint'", The Daily Telegraph, 24 January 2004.

In 1997, the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria beheaded 80-200 villagers in Benthalia.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24986-2004Jul3.html|title=A Brutal Act's Long History|author=Steven Mufson|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=4 July 2004|access-date=9 June 2023|archive-date=7 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907152442/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24986-2004Jul3.html|url-status=live}}

The 2002 beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl by Al-Qaeda member Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Pakistan drew international attention enhanced by the release of a beheading video.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/law-july-dec02-pearl_07-15/|title=Online NewsHour Update: Pakistan Convicts Four Men in Pearl Murder|publisher=PBS|date=15 July 2002|access-date=26 September 2013|archive-date=4 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904200001/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/law-july-dec02-pearl_07-15/|url-status=live}} Revulsion in the Muslim community led al Qaeda to abandon video beheadings. Groups in Iraq led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Tawhid and Jihad and later ISIL, continued the practice.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/movies/the-terrorist-as-auteur.html|title=The Terrorist as Auteur|first=Michael|last=Ignatieff|work=The New York Times |date=November 14, 2004|via=NYTimes.com|access-date=June 9, 2023|archive-date=May 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528045132/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/movies/14TERROR.html|url-status=live}} Since 2002, they have been mass circulating beheading videos as a form of terror and propaganda. One of al-Zarqawi's most publicized murders was that of American Nick Berg.{{cite news | title='Zarqawi' beheaded US man in Iraq | date=13 May 2004 | publisher=BBC News | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3712421.stm | access-date=9 June 2023 | archive-date=27 July 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727215649/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3712421.stm | url-status=live }}

Since 2004 insurgents in South Thailand began to sow fear in attacks where men and women of the local Buddhist minority were beheaded.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBKK434239|title=Reuters - Thai Buddhist beheaded, another shot in Muslim south|work=Reuters|access-date=28 November 2014|date=2009-06-15|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924142256/http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/06/15/idUSBKK434239|url-status=live}} On 18 July 2005 two terrorists entered a teashop in South Thailand, shot Lek Pongpla, a Buddhist cloth vendor, beheaded him and left the head outside of the shop.{{Cite web |url=http://www.terrorism.com/2005/07/18/47855/ |title=Beheadings Raise Tensions in Thailand |access-date=1 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211091843/http://www.terrorism.com/2005/07/18/47855/ |archive-date=11 December 2014 |url-status=dead }} The founder of Bridges TV, a Muslim cable channel in originally based in Buffalo, NY that aimed to combat negative perceptions of Muslims that were allegedly dominating mainstream media coverage, beheaded his wife in 2009 in the offices of Bridges TV.{{Cite web| url=http://humanevents.com/2009/02/26/beheading-moderate-islam/| title=Beheading Moderate Islam| date=26 February 2009| access-date=9 June 2023| archive-date=27 July 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727215655/https://humanevents.com/2009/02/26/beheading-moderate-islam/| url-status=live}}

{{Main|ISIL beheading incidents}}

In January 2015, a copy of an ISIL penal code surfaced describing the penalties it enforces in areas under its control, including beheadings.{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-publishes-penal-code-listing-amputation-crucifixion-and-stoning-as-punishments-and-vows-to-vigilantly-enforce-it-9994878.html | location=London | work=The Independent | first=Heather | last=Saul | title=Isis publishes penal code listing amputation, crucifixion and stoning as punishments - and vows to vigilantly enforce it | date=22 January 2015 | access-date=9 June 2023 | archive-date=25 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925193541/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-publishes-penal-code-listing-amputation-crucifixion-and-stoning-as-punishments--and-vows-to-vigilantly-enforce-it-9994878.html | url-status=live }} Beheading videos have been frequently posted by ISIL members to social media.{{cite web |url=http://numun.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BOP-Syria-Committee-Dossier.pdf |title=Staffer, Crisis, and Jake Hume. "Balance of Powers: Syria." (2014). |access-date=2015-03-04 |archive-date=2018-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929230911/http://numun.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BOP-Syria-Committee-Dossier.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/conference/papers/2014/PSU%20presentation.pdf |title=Celso, Anthony N. "Jihadist Organizational Failure and Regeneration: the Transcendental Role of Takfiri Violence." |access-date=2015-03-04 |archive-date=2018-12-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212120557/https://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/conference/papers/2014/PSU%20presentation.pdf |url-status=live }} Several of the videoed beheadings were conducted by Mohammed Emwazi, whom the media had referred to as "Jihadi John" before his identification.

The beheadings received wide coverage around the world and attracted international condemnation. Political scientist Max Abrahms posited that ISIL may be using well-publicized beheadings as a means of differentiating itself from Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), and identifying itself with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the al-Qaeda member who beheaded Daniel Pearl.{{cite news |last=Taylor |first=Adam |title=From Daniel Pearl to James Foley: The modern tactic of Islamist beheadings |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-foley-pearl-islamist-beheadings-20140821-story.html |access-date=21 September 2014 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=21 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914154316/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-foley-pearl-islamist-beheadings-20140821-story.html |archive-date=14 September 2014 |url-status=dead }} Beheadings represent a small proportion of a larger total of people killed following capture by ISIL.{{cite news|last=Cumming-Bruce|first=Nick|title=5,500 Iraqis Killed Since Islamic State Began Its Military Drive, U.N. Says|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/world/middleeast/un-reports-at-least-26000-civilian-casualties-in-iraq-conflict-this-year.html|access-date=16 August 2015|work=The New York Times|date=2 October 2014|archive-date=27 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727215648/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/world/middleeast/un-reports-at-least-26000-civilian-casualties-in-iraq-conflict-this-year.html|url-status=live}}

In 2020 a teacher was murdered and beheaded in France, apparently for showing his students cartoons of Muhammad.{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-shootings-chechnya-paris-western-europe-e91953f5c9fa0a4d52e51327d11a47fb|work=Associated Press News|title=Suspect in teacher's beheading in France was Chechen teen|access-date=2023-06-09|archive-date=2020-10-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017082932/https://apnews.com/article/russia-shootings-chechnya-paris-western-europe-e91953f5c9fa0a4d52e51327d11a47fb|url-status=live}} Similarly Kanhaiya Lal also beheaded by two Islamist on the name of Islam over Nupur Sharma's comments on Muhammad.{{Cite web |title=Udaipur murder: Who was Kanhaiya Lal? Why was Kanhaiya Lal killed? |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-udaipur-murder-who-was-kanhaiya-lal-why-was-kanhaiya-lal-killed-2964294 |access-date=2022-07-10 |website=DNA India |language=en |archive-date=2022-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710083809/https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-udaipur-murder-who-was-kanhaiya-lal-why-was-kanhaiya-lal-killed-2964294 |url-status=live }}

Over fifty people were beheaded by Islamic terrorists in the Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique in early November 2020.{{cite web | title=Militant Islamists 'behead more than 50' in Mozambique | website=Yahoo | date=2018-08-26 | url=https://news.yahoo.com/militant-islamists-behead-more-50-190200984.html | access-date=2020-11-10 | archive-date=2020-11-10 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110010234/https://news.yahoo.com/militant-islamists-behead-more-50-190200984.html | url-status=live }}

Mainstream Islamic scholars and organizations around the world, as well as other organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban have condemned the practice.{{cite book|author=Alia Brahami|title=Terrorist Beheadings: Politics and Reciprocity|volume=Prisoners in War|editor=Sibylle Scheipers|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_VGB9aX8NsC&pg=PT551|page=551|isbn=9780191610387}}{{cite news | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4971314 | title=Hezbollah, Hamas denounce beheadings | publisher=Associated Press/NBC News | date=13 May 2004 | access-date=10 August 2016 | archive-date=6 March 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306183725/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4971314/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/hezbollah-hamas-denounce-beheading/ | url-status=live }}

According to Peter R. Neumann, Director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence at King's College London, viral beheading videos are intended, and are at least somewhat effective, as a recruiting tool for jihad among both Western and Middle Eastern youth.[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-foley-pearl-islamist-beheadings-20140821-story.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914154316/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-foley-pearl-islamist-beheadings-20140821-story.html|date=2014-09-14}} From Daniel Pearl to James Foley: The modern tactic of Islamist beheadings, Adam Taylor, 21 August 2014, The Washington Post/Chicago Tribune.[http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/terrorism-security/2014/0829/Islamic-State-steps-up-propaganda-videos-beheading-another-captive] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727215710/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/terrorism-security/2014/0829/Islamic-State-steps-up-propaganda-videos-beheading-another-captive|date=2019-07-27}} Islamic State steps up propaganda videos, beheading another captive, Videotaped atrocities in an attempt to spread fear are nothing new for IS. But it appears to be stepping up its propaganda as world powers start to engage in halting its spread, Dan Murphy, 29 August 2014, The Christian Science Monitor. Other observers argue that while Al Qaeda initially used beheading as a publicity tool, it later decided that they caused Muslims to recoil from Islamism and that although ISIS/IS is enthusiastically deploying beheading as a tactic in 2014, it, too, may find that the tactic backfires.[http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/08/why-beheading-videos-are-back-with-isis.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424202630/http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/08/why-beheading-videos-are-back-with-isis.html|date=2017-04-24}} Why Beheading Videos Are Back With ISIS, and Why They Went Away, Katie Zavadski, 21 August 2014, New York. Timothy R. Furnish, as assistant professor of Islamic History, contrasts the Saudi government executions, conforming to standards that minimize pain, with the non-state actors who have "chosen a slow, torturous sawing method to terrorize the Western audience."{{cite journal|title=Beheading in the Name of Islam|author=Timothy R. Furnish|journal=Middle East Quarterly|pages=51–57|volume=12|number=2|year=2005}}

Some analysts have argued that the beheadings of journalists and aid workers, along with other abductions and executions of independent observers in Syrian war zones, have forced international media to rely exclusively on reporting which is directly or indirectly influenced by rebel and opposition groups and in this way allowed the latter to dictate the coverage of events in areas under their control.{{cite web|url=http://studies.aljazeera.net/ResourceGallery/media/Documents/2014/12/10/2014121095530494580Arab-World-Journalism.pdf|publisher=Al Jazeera Center for Studies|title=Arab World Journalism in a Post-Beheading Era|author=Thembisa Fakude|date=10 December 2014|access-date=20 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323195238/http://studies.aljazeera.net/ResourceGallery/media/Documents/2014/12/10/2014121095530494580Arab-World-Journalism.pdf|archive-date=23 March 2019|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/aleppo-crisis-syrian-war-bashar-al-assad-isis-more-propaganda-than-news-a7479901.html|work=The Independent|author=Patrick Cockburn|title=There's more propaganda than news coming out of Aleppo this week|date=16 December 2016|access-date=9 June 2023|archive-date=27 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727215650/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/aleppo-crisis-syrian-war-bashar-al-assad-isis-more-propaganda-than-news-a7479901.html|url-status=live}}

• Islamic State beheading incidents

{{reflist}}

Category:Jihadism

Category:Terrorism tactics

Category:Psychological warfare techniques