(MENAFN- QNA) The US government is conducting a review of how it responds when American citizens are taken hostage by overseas terrorists, including how the families of captives are kept informed, the (CNN) reported.
A top Pentagon official wrote in a letter to Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, that President Obama had ordered a "comprehensive review of the US Government policy on overseas terrorist-related hostage cases, with specific emphasis on examining family engagement, intelligence collection and diplomatic engagement policies."
Hunter has advocated for a tougher US response when Americans are taken captive overseas.
The Pentagon official who wrote Hunter, Under Secretary of Defense Christine Wormuth, said the review came as a result of "the increased frequency of hostage-taking of Americans overseas" and would seek to add "innovative and non-traditional solutions" to hostage-recovery efforts.
On Sunday, ISIS released the fifth video showing the brutal execution of a Westerner, in this case, American aid worker Peter Kassig. Two other Americans have been shown in previous videos being beheaded by ISIS: James Foley and Steven Sotloff, both journalists.
After Foley's death in August, the United States said it had attempted to rescue him and other hostages in a military operation over the summer but couldn't find where they were being held.
Foley's mother later told CNN she was "embarrassed and appalled" by how the US government had responded to her son's case.
Other governments, particularly in Europe, have successfully won the release of captives by paying ransoms to ISIS. Obama and other US officials have decried the practice, saying the money has fueled the group's rise.
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