purportedly showing the killing of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto, a
monitoring service has said.
The video released online by the armed group shows the journalist who
was abducted while reporting on Syria's civil war last year being
beheaded with a knife by a black-clad masked fighter.
The Japanese government said it was trying to authenticate the video.
Goto was a freelance journalist who had reported from war zones for
more than 20 years, in Africa, Afghanistan and the Middle East.
He travelled to Syria, at least in part, to attempt a rescue of his
friend Haruna Yukawa, who was captured by ISIL in August.
Yukawa was a self-styled military consultant who went to Syria to set
up a security company, despite a lack of any experience.
In October, Goto was captured by ISIL and was held captive alongside
his friend. ISIL demanded a $200 million dollar ransom for the two
men.
But last week, the armed group released a video. In it, there was an
image of Goto, chained by the wrist, and in his hands a photograph of
his friend Yukawa, who had been killed.
ISIL has beheaded and shot dead hundreds of captives - mainly Syrian
and Iraqi soldiers - during its sweep across the two countries, and
has celebrated its mass killings in extremely graphic videos.
The group also beheaded James Foley and Peter Kassig, American
hostages; Steven Sotloff, an Israeli-American; and David Haines and
Alan Henning, British captives.
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