BEIRUT (AP) — The mother of a Lebanese soldier held captive by the militant Islamic State group said photographs posted online Saturday purporting to show his beheading appeared to be real.

Zeinab Noun said her 20-year-old son, Abbas Medlej, was "sacrificed" after supporters of the militant Sunni group posted images appearing to show a captured Lebanese soldier before and after he was beheaded.

"My son was sacrificed," said Noun, clutching a passport-sized photo of her son, a handsome, smooth-faced young man.

Medlej's maternal uncle, Abu Ali Noun, also said the photographs appeared to be of his nephew. A spokesman for Lebanon's military said it was still investigating the incident.

Medlej would be the second captive Lebanese soldier killed by the Islamic State group, underscoring the grave challenges that face the ill-equipped Lebanese military as it fends off an unprecedented jihadi threat from Syria-based militants.

About two dozen more members of the country's security forces remain held captive by the militants. They were seized in August when several Syrian rebel factions, including the Islamic State group and al-Qaida linked Nusra Front, overran the Lebanese border town of Arsal, killing and kidnapping soldiers and policemen in the most serious spillover yet of the neighboring civil war.

The Syrian civil war has inflamed sectarian tensions between Lebanon's Sunnis and Shiites — with Sunnis generally backing the rebel groups and Shiites supporting the government of President Bashar Assad. The Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah has actively fought on the Syrian government side.

Local media had reported that negotiations were underway, with the militants demanding cash and the release of Islamists being held in Lebanese detention. A statement posted by supporters of the Islamic State said Medlej was killed after he tried to escape.

Medlej hailed from a large Shiite clan from the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbak.

His mother vowed revenge on rival Sunnis.

"We have to take our revenge from those apostates," she said.

The captured soldiers and police are from Lebanon's many religious sects: the first soldier beheaded by the group, Ali Sayid, was a Sunni Muslim. The militants are also holding Christian soldiers and other Sunni Muslims.

Families of the captive soldiers have blocked highways and held demonstrations to pressure the Lebanese government to push harder for the release of the men. There are also fears for the safety of the more than 1 million Syrian refugees who are now in Lebanon as rage grows over the beheadings.

Medlej's uncle vowed that "every Syrian in Lebanon is a target" after hearing of his nephew's death.

The Islamic State group has drawn global attention particularly since June, when it swept through northern and western Iraq from its stronghold in neighboring Syria.

They reached Lebanon in August when they overran Arsal, and operate just across the border in the nearby hills of Syria.

On Saturday, Lebanon's state-run news agency reported heavy fighting in the barren hills between Arsal and the border with Syria. It came hours after militants on a motorbike opened fire on Lebanese soldiers patrolling in a vehicle in the nearby town of Qaa. The soldiers killed one of the attackers, state media reported.

The Islamic State group follows an ultra-conservative, violent interpretation of Islam and is accused by rights groups and the United Nations of committing war crimes, including the mass killings of soldiers, Shiite Muslims and followers of the ancient Yazidi faith in Iraq. It has also beheaded two U.S. freelance journalists who were captured in Syria, Steven Sotloff and James Foley.

A video of Sotloff's killing was posted on online jihadi networks on Tuesday. On Saturday, the United Nations Security Council issued a press statement condemning his murder.

"This crime is, yet again, a tragic reminder of the increasing dangers journalists face every day in Syria. It also once again demonstrates the brutality of ISIL, which is responsible for thousands of abuses against the Syrian and Iraqi people," the statement said. ISIL is another name used by the Islamic State group.

Last week, the U.N.'s top human rights body approved a request by Iraq to open an investigation into suspected crimes committed by the Islamic State group against civilians in its country. Its aim would be to provide the Human Rights Council with evidence on atrocities committed in Iraq, which could be used as part of any international war crimes prosecution.

Lebanese soldier 'sacrificed' by Islamic State

Images posted by supporters of the militant group appear to show the beheading of 20-year-old Abbas Medlej.
Mom vows revenge

SEOUL (Reuters) - Matthew Miller, one of three detained Americans in North Korea, will face trial next week, a short statement carried by state media said on Sunday, without elaborating any further on what charges the U.S. citizen faced.

Miller, of Bakersfield, California, will go to trial in North Korea on Sept. 14, the short statement said. The 26-year old was arrested in April for tearing up his visa upon his arrival in the isolated country, state media said at the time.

The statement did not mention fellow U.S. citizen Jeffrey Fowle, 56, who was arrested in May after he left a Bible in the toilet of a sailor's club in the port town of Chongjin.

U.S. missionary Kenneth Bae has been held by the isolated country since December 2012 and is currently serving a sentence of 15 years hard labor for crimes North Korea said amounted to a plot to overthrow the state.

North Korea, which is under heavy UN sanctions related to its nuclear and missile programs, is widely believed to be using the detained U.S. citizens to extract a high-profile visit from Washington, with whom it has no formal diplomatic relations.

Earlier this month, international media was granted rare access to the detained Americans, who in separate interviews all called on the United States to secure their early release.

(Reporting by James Pearson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Landslides and flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains have killed nearly 300 people in large swaths of northern India and Pakistan, officials said Sunday.

Five days of incessant rains in Indian-controlled Kashmir have left at least 120 people dead in the region's worst flooding in more than five decades, submerging hundreds of villages and triggering landslides, officials said. In neighboring Pakistan, more than 160 people have died and thousands of homes have collapsed, with an official saying the situation was becoming a "national emergency."

Rescuers in both countries were using helicopters and boats to try to reach tens of thousands of people stranded in their homes as floodwaters rose and submerged many villages.

Rescue efforts in Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir, were hampered by fast-moving floodwaters that submerged large parts of the city.

The rains had stopped on Sunday, but officials said the spreading water from the overflowed Jhelum River was moving too fast to allow boats to reach many people stranded in Srinagar for much of the day. By evening, several boats had been deployed to start rescue efforts, said Omar Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir state's top elected official.

In many of Srinagar's neighborhoods, the water was about 4 meters (12 feet) deep, submerging entire houses. Stranded residents left their homes to move in with friends or relatives in safer areas.

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Kashmiri men evacuate women and the elderly from a flooded neighborhood in Srinagar, India, Sunday, …

"I'm in my 80s and I've never seen floods like this," said Ghulam Nabi, speaking through a window from the third story of his house in Srinagar's upscale Rajbagh section. "If this is how it is in my neighborhood, I cannot imagine the devastation in other areas."

Floodwaters entered the first floor of the state's main maternity hospital, forcing more than 200 patients and attendants to move to higher floors of the building.

Thousands of police officers and army rescue workers were fanned out across Jammu and Kashmir to help with relief and rescue efforts.

At windows and balconies, worried residents looked at the swirling waters and waited for help.

"The situation is extremely grim," top civilian official Rohit Kansal said. "We are not able to reach many people because the water is moving so fast."

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Kashmiri men evacuate women and the elderly from a flooded neighborhood in Srinagar, India, Sunday, …

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi surveyed the flood-hit areas from a helicopter Sunday and promised the state federal help to deal with the devastation, which he described as a "national level disaster."

Across Indian Kashmir, at least 450 villages have been submerged and 2,000 others have been affected by the floodwaters, officials said. All schools, colleges and offices have been shut, and electricity and drinking water supplies have been limited across the state.

In Pakistan, 103 people have died in the eastern province of Punjab from the collapse of houses, flooding and electrocution, said Ali Imam Syed, a senior official in the province's rescue agency. He said more than 5,000 people had been rescued since Thursday, adding that three soldiers had gone missing during the rescue operation.

Ahmed Kamal, spokesman for Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority, said 48 people had died in the Pakistani-administered part of Kashmir and 11 in the adjacent Gilgit Baltistan area since the flooding began.

"Army helicopters and navy boats are rescuing people and taking them to safety from submerged villages in Punjab and affected areas of Kashmir," Kamal said.

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Kashmiri women wail as they stand near their submerged houses in Srinagar, India, Sunday, Sept.7, 20 …

He said that the flooding had hit 286 villages in Punjab, as several rivers breached their banks, and that the crisis was rapidly becoming a "national emergency."

Naeem Mushtaq, a 30-year-old farmer from Gujranwala district, said he and four other people climbed into trees when the floodwaters surged through their village on Saturday. They waited in the branches for more than 20 hours before rescuers reached them, he told an Associated Press reporter.

More than 4,000 homes across Pakistan have collapsed, rendering thousands of people homeless.

Pakistan's armed forces and civilian rescuers have mounted a massive operation using helicopters and boats to get villagers to safety. Kamal said 95 relief camps had been set up for those displaced by the flooding.

Pakistan and India suffer widespread flooding each year during the monsoon season, which runs from June through September. In 2010, flash floods killed 1,700 people in Pakistan.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but claimed in its entirety by both countries.

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Flooding in India, Pakistan Kills Hundreds (video)

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — The U.S. military said Sunday it launched airstrikes around Haditha Dam in western Iraq, targeting Islamic State insurgents there for the first time in a move to prevent the group from capturing the vital dam.

The strikes represented a broadening of the U.S. campaign against the Islamic State militants, moving the military operations closer to the border of Syria, where the group also has been operating.

Speaking in Georgia where he's meeting with government and defense officials, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that if the dam were to fall into the militant's hands "or if that dam would be destroyed, the damage that that would cause would be very significant and it would put a significant additional and big risk into the mix in Iraq" including U.S. interests there.

At the same time, however, Hagel rejected the suggestion that the Haditha strikes opened up a new front in the war against the Islamic State group or that it represented an escalation of the U.S. military operations. He spoke at a press conference with Georgia Defense Minister Irakli Alasania.

Alasania, meanwhile, said Georgia expects to provide some assistance in the campaign against the Islamic State, saying that training and carrying out military exercises with the Iraqi forces are "things that come to our mind." He said Georgia can play a supporting role and there are plans to discuss the matter further.

U.S. officials said that while the Anbar Province dam remains in control of the Iraqis, the U.S. offensive was an effort to beat back militants who have been trying to take over key dams across the country, including the Haditha complex. Hagel said the Iraqi government had asked the U.S. to launch the airstrikes and that Iraqi forces on the ground conceived the operation.

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FILE - In this Sunday, May 29, 2005 file photo, U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew Bickerstaff of Satelli …

Anbar has for some time been a contested region between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants backed by allied Sunni tribes. The situation deteriorated significantly in late December, and the militants took over parts of Ramadi and Fallujah.

The Iraqi government and allied tribes launched an offensive on Jan. 26 to wrest control of the cities back from the militants and sporadic clashes have continued around Fallujah and in some parts of Ramadi, with only limited success by Iraqi security forces. U.S. airstrikes could greatly boost their hand now.

"The dam is a critically important facility for Iraq," Hagel said, adding that the U.S. is continuing to explore all options for expanding the battle against the Islamic State into Syria.

Hagel spoke after a meeting with Alasania, the first of several sessions with government leaders. His visit comes on the heels of the two-day NATO summit in Wales.

"We conducted these strikes to prevent terrorists from further threatening the security of the dam, which remains under control of Iraqi Security Forces, with support from Sunni tribes," Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.

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From front right, British Prime Minister David Cameron, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen …

The dam is a major source of water and electrical power.

The military said a mix of fighter and bomber aircraft conducted four airstrikes, destroying five Islamic State Humvees, another armed vehicle, a checkpoint and damaged a militant bunker. The U.S. aircraft safely exited the strike area.

"We will continue to conduct operations as needed in support of the Iraqi Security Forces and the Sunni tribes, working with those forces securing Haditha Dam," Kirby said.

Last month Islamic State fighters were battling to capture the Haditha Dam, which has six power generators located alongside Iraq's second-largest reservoir. But, despite their attacks, Iraqi forces there backed up by local Sunni tribes have been able to hold them off.

The group was able to take control of the Mosul Dam in northern Iraq last month, but persistent U.S. airstrikes dislodged the militants. And while fighters have been trying to take it back, the U.S. has continued to use strikes to keep them at bay.

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A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter uses binoculars to check on Islamic State group's positions on the o …

Syria Launches Airstrikes on Islamic State Stronghold (video)

The military said Sunday it had also launched a fresh air attack against militants near the Mosul Dam.

U.S. officials have expressed concerns that militants could flood Baghdad and other large swaths of the country if they control the dams. It also would give the group control over electricity, which they could use to strengthen their control over residents.

Earlier this year, the group gained control of the Fallujah Dam on the Euphrates River and the militants used it as a weapon, opening it to flood downriver when government forces moved in on the city.

Water is a precious commodity in Iraq, a largely desert country of 32.5 million people. The decline of water levels in the Euphrates over recent years has led to electricity shortages in towns south of Baghdad, where steam-powered generators depend entirely on water levels.

On Friday and Saturday, the U.S. used a mix of attack aircraft, fighter jets and drones to conduct two airstrikes around Irbil. The strikes hit trucks and armored vehicles. Those operations brought the total number of airstrikes to 133 since early August.

The airstrikes are aimed at protecting U.S. personnel and facilities, as well protecting critical infrastructure and aiding refugees fleeing the militants.

The assault targets Islamic State insurgents who have been trying to take over the Haditha Dam in western Iraq.
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