Obama Calls Islamic State Beheading of Peter Kassig 'Pure Evil'

President Barack Obama has described the recent beheadings on behalf of the Islamic State as "pure evil."

The president's comments come after the Islamic State released a video purportedly showing the beheading of U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig. Kassig had been kidnapped in Syria last year while serving as an aid worker who delivered supplies to locals.

The president said in his statement that Kassig "was taken from us in an act of pure evil by a terrorist group that the world rightly associates with inhumanity."

According to the Associated Press, the president went on to say that the Islamic State "revels in the slaughter of innocents, including Muslims, and is bent only on sowing death and destruction."

The recent video released by the Islamic State that shows Kassig's beheading also shows the beheading of several Syrian soldiers. This is the fifth beheading of western captives the terrorist group has announced publically. In the past several months, the Islamic State has also beheaded Americans Steven Sotloff and James Foley and Britons David Haines and Alan Henning.

Kassig's parents also released a statement mourning the loss of their son, who reportedly converted to Islam and served as an aid worker in the Middle East to "make up for a lot of wrong [the U.S.] did" in the region, according to previous statements made by Kassig.

"We are heartbroken to learn that our son, Abdul-Rahman Peter Kassig, has lost his life as a result of his love for the Syrian people and his desire to ease their suffering," Ed and Paula Kassig said in their statement.