Hostage says Islamic State waterboards attempted escapees

RAQQAH, Syria, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- The latest video released by the Islamic State featured a British journalist who spoke critically of Western governments' refusal to negotiate with the extremist group and indicated that the militants waterboard prisoners who try to escape captivity.

John Cantlie, 43, was captured by IS forces in 2012. A journalist who had been taken captive by the group two times before, Cantlie mentioned waterboarding as a practice used by the militants.

"Some of us who tried to escape were waterboarded by our captors, as Muslim prisoners are waterboarded by their American captors," Cantlie said.

Waterboarding is an interogation technique that simulates drowning. The practice has long been controversial in the United States, with some calling it torture, and others, including former President George W. Bush, citing it as a legal means to extract information that has "saved lives."

Last month, an initial video was released feauturing Cantlie sitting at a desk alone, denouncing the Western media for twisting the truth and coercing the public back into an unwinnable war. He said he was abandoned by the British government and had "nothing to lose."

Cantlie's message in the most current video, which dates back to July, was six minutes long. He read emails from hostage families who protested the United States' and Britain's refusal to negotiate for the lives of captives.

"We have begged them so many times already," he said. "Everyone has buried their heads in the sand."

IS forces released four videos this year depicting the beheadings of two American journalists and two British aid workers, each with warnings of future executions if the West did not cease military operations against the group. Airstrikes against IS forces in Iraq and Syria have not slowed since they began this summer.

U.S. Central Command reported airstrikes Sunday against IS forces around Kobani, Syria, which destroyed seven IS vehicles and a building used by the group. Twelve airstrikes conducted in Iraq the same day hit four small and three large IS units, as well as an artillery piece, four buildings and six vehicles used by the militants.