At least two Britains, two Frenchmen and a German are thought to appear in the latest Islamic State murder video. A young medical student from Cardiff and a German were seen in the video beheading a number of Syrian soldiers. The video also appears to show the severed head of 26-year-old U.S. hostage Peter Kassig. France’s intelligence services said they believe that there are two Frenchmen in the video, one of which is 22-year-old Abou Abdallah Al Faransi, born Maxime Hauchard, from Normandy.

Hauchard was interviewed by French news channel BFM TV in July about his decision to convert to Islam. He was born Christian but converted to Islam at the age of 17. The BFM TV report that Hauchard travelled to Syria on his own through Turkey and ended up in Raqqa. He was involved in a special mission and is prepared to die as a martyr.

French citizens are the largest European group who have joined extremists in Syria and Iraq. The Paris prosecutor’s office says that 1,100 people have been placed under surveillance.

The 20-year-old medical student from Cardiff standing shoulder to shoulder with Jihadi John was recognized by his father, 57-year-old Ahmed Muthana. “I am like any other father. i am trying not to believe it is my boy but it looks like him,” said Nasser Muthana’s father.

The video’s analysts believe that the murder video is an attempt by the Islamic State to start a battle. Jihadi John, the British militant, sent a warning to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron. The footage showing John and 15 other unmasked militants also showed the militant issuing a threat to slaughter people on the streets of Britain. Mr. Cameron said the beheadings showed how far the “depraved” terrorists were willing to go.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights state that there have been 1,500 executions over the last five months of which 879 were unarmed and 700 were members of the Shiite community in Syria.