IS group claims to have beheaded second Japanese hostage

Goto is seen kneeling, dressed in an orange outfit, as a masked man standing beside him with a knife blames the Japanese government for his "slaughter".

It ends with a still photo of the body with the head resting on the back.

The executioner appears to be the man known as Jihadi John, speaking with a southern English accent and addressing the Japanese government.

"You, like your foolish allies in the Satanic coalition, have yet to understand that we, by Allah's grace, are an Islamic Caliphate with authority and power, an entire army thirsty for your blood," he said.

He then speaks directly to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"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."

The release of the video came exactly a week after footage purportedly showing the beheaded body of another Japanese hostage Haruna Yukawa.

Japan condemned the Islamist group and said Abe’s cabinet would meet in response to the video.

“I cannot help feeling strong indignation that an inhuman and despicable act of terrorism like this has been committed again,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, adding the video appeared to show Goto. “We resolutely condemn this.”

A White House spokeswoman said the United States was working to confirm the authenticity of the latest video and “strongly condemns” the militant group’s actions.

The landscape in the video showed a hill and land covered in scrub, and appeared different to the desert setting of previous videos.

There was no mention in the one-minute video of another the Islamic State group's captive, Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh who was seized after his jet crashed in northeast Syria in December during a bombing mission against the Jihadist organisation.

An audio message purportedly from Goto earlier this week said Kasaesbeh would be killed if Jordan did not free Iraqi Sajida al-Rishawi, in jail for her role in a 2005 suicide bomb attack that killed 60 people in the Jordanian capital Amman.

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 Yukawa’s release.

The Islamic State group’s threats to kill their Japanese hostages came after Abe announced $200 million (€ 177 million) in non-military aid for countries contending with the militants. His government has rejected any suggestion it acted rashly and stressed the assistance was humanitarian.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)