For the second time in two days, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council have jointly condemned the brutal killing of a civilian by Daash militant group—this time deploring the murder of Jordanian Royal Air Force pilot Lieutenant Muath Al-Kasasbeh. The "heinous and cowardly murder ... once again demonstrates the brutality of ISIL, which is responsible for thousands of crimes and abuses against people from all faiths, ethnicities, and nationalities, and without regard to any basic value of humanity," the Security Council said in a statement late Tuesday, using a longer acronym for IS. "The members of the Security Council stressed that such a crime by ISIL demonstrates that terrorism is a scourge impacting all of humanity and people from all regions and religions," the 15-country body said, emphasizing that the group must be defeated and that the intolerance, violence, and hatred it espouses must be eradicated. The Security Council said such continued acts of barbarism do not intimidate them but rather strengthen their resolve that there must be a common effort among governments and institutions to destroy IS, al Nusra Front, and all other groups associated with al Qaida. In a separate statement late Tuesday, the secretary-general offered condolences to the pilot's family and said he stands in solidarity with the government and people of Jordan in denouncing the "appalling" crime. The U.N. chief also urged all governments to strengthen their efforts to fight terrorism and extremism within the bounds of their human-rights obligations. Groups like IS have "no regard for human life," he added.
