France confirmed that two French nationals appeared in the latest Islamic State video, showing the killing of Syrian soldiers and US aid worker Peter Kassig.
French prosecutor François Molins confirmed on Wednesday that aside from Maxine Hauchard, who was identified on Monday, Mickael Dos Santos will be under investigation for premeditated murder and participation in acts of terrorism after being identified among the Islamic militants in the latest video.
"In addition to Maxime Hauchard, specific and solid evidence has been collected identifying the presence of a second Frenchman: Mickael Dos Santos," Molins said in a statement, France 24 reported.
According to Molins, the 22-year-old Dos Santos is from a town in east of Paris. He reportedly flew to Syria in August 2013 and was being investigated by anti-judicial authorities since October 2013.
French intelligence has been monitoring Dos Santos since he uploaded a video online where he said that "all brothers living in France" should kill "any civilian" as retaliation for France's airstrikes against IS in Iraq.
France president Francois Hollande said on Wednesday morning that they have yet to confirm the identities of the alleged Frenchmen, but he expressed concern about how French nationals are being recruited to join IS.
Wassim Nasr, a jihadist group expert, also raised doubts about the real identity of the alleged Frenchmen, pointing out that eye color and Arabic accent did not match Hauchard and Dos Santos' description. Nasr added, though, that the latest video is a clear proof that there are different nationalities in the group.
"This video shows that the Islamic State group has nearly all the nationalities in its ranks, and therefore it concerns everyone," Nasr said.
According to reports, 15,000 foreigners were fighting for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq over the past several months, and 2,000 of those international recruits are from Europe. French officials recently confirmed as well that they are investigating hundreds of French nationals who suspiciously went to Syria.
"The Islamic State group is trying to build a state, which makes it a lot more attractive for jihadist already in the ranks of al Qaeda, but also for youngsters who are leaving their lives in the West knowing that this is a war zone and they could lose their life at any minute," Nasr added.
