IS silent on fate of Japanese hostages after $200m ransom deadline passes

A clock counting down to the killing of Japanese hostages by Islamic State has reached zero - but the militant group has yet to break its silence on the pair’s plight. Posted alongside gruesome images of other murdered hostages on a website linked to the jihadist organisation, the clock counted down to the now-elapsed deadline previously given by IS. They had given Japan 72 hours to pay a $200m ransom for the  release of Kenji Goto, a journalist, and Haruna Yukawa, a private military company operator - if the ransom is not paid.

Time is running out. Please, Japanese government, save my son’s life. My son is not an enemy of the Islamic State.

Junko Ishido

Earlier, the mother of one of the men pleaded with militants to spare her son’s life. Junko Ishido said her son, Goto, is a friend of Islam who devoted his life to helping children in war zones. Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the government is making every effort to secure the hostages’ release. ”We have received offers of cooperation from various countries. We are continuing to analyse information,” he said. Previous IS videos featured a British-accented jihadi murdering U.S. hostages James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British hostages David Haines and Alan Henning.

World Japanese hostages