IS claims US aid worker beheaded

Islamic State militants fighting in Iraq and Syria claimed in a video posted online on Sunday that they had beheaded American hostage Peter Kassig, reports Reuters.
The video did not show the beheading but showed a masked man standing with a decapitated head covered in blood lying at his feet. Speaking in English in a British accent, the man says: "This is Peter Edward Kassig, a US citizen."
Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the footage, which appeared on a jihadist website and on Twitter feeds used by Islamic State.
Kassig, a 26-year-old from Indiana, is also known as Abdul-Rahman, a name he took following his conversion to Islam while in captivity.
Kassig's parents have said through a spokesperson their son was taken captive on his way to the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor on Oct. 1, 2013.
A former soldier, Kassig was doing humanitarian work through Special Emergency Response and Assistance, an organisation he founded in 2012 to help refugees from Syria, the family has said.
AP adds: The White House says the U.S. intelligence community is working to determine the authenticity of the video that purports to show that Islamic State militants have beheaded the American aid worker.
National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan says that if the video is authentic, the White House would be "appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American." She says the White House expresses its deepest condolences to Kassig's family and friends.