ISIS beheaded a second Lebanese soldier, a commander with the extremist group told Turkish news agency Anadolu Saturday, blaming it on an escape attempt by the captive.
"Yes, we slaughtered Lebanese soldier Abbas Medlej because he attempted to escape," the ISIS leader told Anadolu.
The news agency said the ISIS commander hailed from the Syrian region of Qalamoun, adding that its reporter communicated with him through the Internet.
According to the ISIS commander, Medlej said he was going to the bathroom but shot at ISIS members instead. The militant fell short on explaining how the Lebanese soldier acquired the weapon he used, Anadolu reported.
Medlej, who is 24 years old, hails from the town of Maqneh in the northern Bekaa Valley.
A military source could not confirm the identity and told The Daily Star that the Lebanese Army was investigating graphic pictures of the decapitation that were circulating on social media outlets.
Earlier this week, Lebanon put to rest soldier Ali Sayyed who was beheaded by ISIS.
Sayyed and Medlej were captured along with at least 27 of their colleagues from the Lebanese army and the Internal Security Forces during clashes with jihadists from ISIS and the Nusra Front in the northeastern town of Arsal.
Sayyed had been captured by jihadists from the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al- Nusra Front and the IS, along with some 30 soldiers and police in the eastern town of Arsal last month.
They were seized during major fighting against jihadists who had flooded in from neighboring Syria.
The militants have requested the release of several high profile Islamist prisoners as a pre-requisite for the release of the soldiers and policemen.
The Lebanese government rejected negotiating a prisoner swap with the militants, but a Qatari negotiator has recently started a mediation to break the deadlock over the abducted troops.
