UNITED NATIONS, September 15 (RIA Novosti) - Responding to the beheading by the Islamic State (IS) of British aid worker David Haines, the UN Security Council has stressed again that the Islamic States must be defeated.
"The members of the Security Council stressed again that ISIL must be defeated and that the intolerance, violence and hatred it espouses must be stamped out," said the UN in a statement.
"This crime [murder of Haines by IS] is a tragic reminder of the increasing dangers humanitarian personnel face every day in Syria. It also once again demonstrates the brutality of ISIL, which is responsible for thousands of abuses against the Syrian and Iraqi people," the council said.
"Such continued acts of barbarism perpetrated by ISIL do not intimidate them but rather stiffen their resolve that there has to be a common effort amongst governments and institutions, including those in the region most affected, to counter ISIL, Al-Nusra Front and all other individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities associated with Al-Qaida," the Security Council said on Sunday.
"Any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed," the Security Council statement concluded.
Back on August 22, the Security Council condemned IS' beheading of US freelance journalist James Foley and called for the release of others. On September 6, the Council issued a statement condemning the beheading of a second journalist, Steven Sotloff.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, it launched an offensive in Iraq and seized vast areas in both countries, proclaiming an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.
