Al-Qaeda Mistaken Beheaded: Accepts Responsibility, Apologizes

Al-Qaeda-linked Syrian rebels apologized this week for having mistakenly beheaded a fellow rebel, believing the fighter was supporting Syrian President al-Assad.

In a YouTube video, two soldiers appear holding a head from the decapitated body of Mohammed Fares, claiming he was a member of an Iraqi Shia militia.

But soon, the rebel group Ahrar al-Sham identified the decapitated man as one of their own fellows, part of the Sunni Islamist group that was caught fighting alongside the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.

On Thursday, the group released a statement apologizing for the mistake and accepting responsibility.

According to the group, he was wounded during a battle in Aleppo. He was taken to a hospital and in his wounded status he got confused and believed he was captured by Assad forces, asking right away to kill him.

Real Time Analytics