The Daesh group has released a video showing John Cantlie, a British journalist kidnapped in Syria four years ago, alive in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
The propaganda video by the Daesh-affiliated Amaq network shows an emaciated Cantlie speaking in English to the camera in the style of a news report similar to previous videos in which he appeared.
The footage was not dated but the destroyed bridges seen behind Cantlie in the video suggest it was shot in recent weeks.
The US-led coalition assisting Iraq in its fight against Daesh has destroyed several bridges in central Mosul over the past few weeks.
Tens of thousands of Iraqi troops backed by coalition warplanes on October 17 launched a massive offensive on Mosul, the last major urban center in Iraq still controlled by the jihadists.
Cantlie was kidnapped along with fellow journalist James Foley while covering the war in Syria in November 2012.
Foley then became the first of several hostages to be slain by Daesh.
Media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders has condemned Daesh for its “cowardly” use of a hostage in a forced role to promote its propaganda.

Source: Arab News