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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - ISIS beheaded Japanese hostage Kenji Goto .

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) released a video over the weekend saying the militant group had executed Kenji Goto, a Japanese national, according to the monitoring group SITE.

The Japanese government said it was trying to authenticate the video claiming to the death of Goto, public broadcaster NHK said, Reuters news agency reported.

Reuters could not immediately verify the video, which showed a hooded man standing over Goto with a knife held to his throat, followed by footage of a body with a head placed on it.

Addressing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the man says: "Because of your reckless decision to take part in an unwinnable war, this knife will not only slaughter Kenji, but will also carry on and cause carnage wherever your people are found. So let the nightmare for Japan begin."

Abe’s government had put high priority on seeking the release of Goto, a veteran war correspondent captured by the militants in late October when he went to Syria seeking the release of another Japanese captive, Haruna Yukawa.

ISIS has executed several foreigners, mostly Westerners, in the past. The group seeks the establishment of a so-called “Islamic Caliphate” in Syrian and Iraqi territories it maintained. A U.S.-led coalition is targeting the Islamist militants using air strikes in Syria and Iraq.

*Agencies