An affiliate of the Islamic State terror group in the Sinai Peninsula claimed responsibility for the beheading of a Croatian man. Photo: EPA.

JNS.org – The Islamic State terror group’s affiliate in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has claimed to be behind the beheading of a Croatian hostage, reports indicate.

According to the SITE intelligence group, which tracks online activity of terrorist organizations, Tomislav Salopek of Croatia, who worked for the French geoscience firm CGG and was kidnapped July 22 near Cairo, was seen beheaded in an image posted by the Sinai Province, a terror group affiliated with Islamic State.

On Aug. 5, the Sinai terror group released a video online that threatened to kill Salopek if Egypt didn’t release prisoners within 48 hours.

While Egyptian and Croatian officials have not confirmed Salopek’s death, the beheading would be the first by the Sinai terror group.

The terror group, which was formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, has been behind a powerful insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula over the past few years. In July, it launched a series of deadly attacks that killed 17 Egyptian soldiers.