ISIS Reportedly Burns 45 to Death

Another grisly, if unconfirmed, report about the Islamic State: The BBC reports that militants with the group burned to death 45 people in the Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi. At least some of the victims were members of Iraq's security forces, the police chief tells the news agency. ISIS took control of most of the town last week, which up until then had been one of the last ones in Anbar province controlled by the Iraqi government. (An Iraqi military base with hundreds of US military personnel is nearby, and ISIS suicide bombers tried unsuccessfully to attack it last week.)

The report follows the burning to death of a captured Jordanian pilot, along with the beheadings of Coptic Christians in Libya. On the latter front, the Telegraph reports that letters written by ISIS supporters suggest that the group plans to use Libya as a stepping stone to attacks in southern Europe. Says the newspaper: "The jihadists hope to flood the north African state with militiamen from Syria and Iraq, who will then sail across the Mediterranean posing as migrants on people trafficking vessels." (More Islamic State stories.)