Islamic State Burns 43 People Alive in Western Iraq

BAGHDAD – The jihadist group Islamic State, or IS, burned alive on Saturday 43 people kidnapped in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, a security official told Efe.

The IS militants caged their hostages, who were mostly police and members of the pro-government Sunni militias called Salvation Councils, then set them on fire.

The radical group kidnapped the victims more than a week ago in the Al Baghdadi area of Anbar province.

The massacre recalled what happened several weeks ago when the IS aired a video of how it burned to death the Jordanian pilot Muaz Kasasbeh, captured in Syria last December after his plane crashed during an operation of the international coalition against the IS.

Last Feb. 17, the IS executed and burned more than 40 people in the same area, most of them members of the police and the Salvation Councils.

Anbar province is largely dominated by the jihadists, and Al Baghdadi was one of the few cities where the Iraqi government was still in control.

The United States, which leads an international alliance against the IS, has 300 soldiers deployed at the military base of Ain al-Asad, located some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Al Baghdadi, and which has been the target in recent days of some frustrated IS attacks.