BEIRUT -- An online message purportedly from the Islamic State extremist group warned Tuesday that a Japanese hostage and a Jordanian pilot being held by the extremists have less than "24 hours left to live."
The message again demanded the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman sentenced to death in Jordan for involvement in a 2005 terror attack that killed 60 people, setting a deadline for this afternoon. It also mentioned for the first time Jordanian pilot 1st Lt. Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh, who is a captive of the Islamic State.
Tuesday's video matched a message released over the weekend, though neither bore the logo of the Islamic State's al-Furqan media arm. The weekend video showed a still photo of Kenji Goto holding what appears to be a photo of the body of Japanese hostage Haruna Yukawa.
The Associated Press could not independently verify either video. However, several militant websites affiliated with the Islamic State referred to the video and posted links to it late Tuesday afternoon.
The message said that unless the Jordanian government freed al-Rishawi within 24 hours, Goto and the pilot would be killed, adding that it would be the group's last message. The message warned that any delaying tactics by the government would result in the deaths of both men.
Goto has only "24 hours left to live, and the pilot has even less," the message said.
Japanese officials held emergency meetings after the video's release. Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said he had seen the video, but did not comment on its authenticity.
"In this extremely tough situation, we are continuing, as before, to request the cooperation of the Jordanian government to work toward the immediate release of Mr. Goto," Suga said.
A Japanese envoy in Jordan, Deputy Foreign Minister Yasuhide Nakayama, earlier expressed hope that Japan and Jordan could cooperate to secure the release of the hostages and that they would return home "with a smile on their faces."
Japanese officials had no immediate comment on the new message.
Tuesday marked the first time a Japanese official mentioned al-Kaseasbeh, who has been held by the extremist Islamic State group since his Jordanian F-16 went down near the Islamic State group's de facto capital, Raqqa, Syria, in December. It wasn't immediately clear when the pilot's possible release had entered into the negotiations.
The 26-year-old Jordanian is the first foreign military pilot to fall into the extremists' hands since an international coalition began its aerial campaign against the Islamic State in September. Jordan is part of the U.S.-led coalition targeting Islamic State militants in Syria.
Goto, a freelance journalist, was seized in late October in Syria, apparently while trying to rescue Yukawa, 42, who was captured by the militants last summer.
The weekend message retracted a demand for payment of $200 million in ransom for the two Japanese made in an earlier online message. It threatened to kill Goto unless al-Rishawi was released.
Japanese officials have indicated that they are treating the video released over the weekend as authentic and thus accepting the likelihood that Yukawa is dead.
The mother of another Jordanian prisoner, Ziad al-Karboli, said Tuesday that her family was told that the Islamic State was also seeking his release as part of a swap. It was unclear whether it was related to a possible deal involving the Japanese hostage.
In Syria on Tuesday, Kurdish fighters expanded their offensive after driving Islamic State militants from the border town of Kobani the previous day, hoping to retake dozens of surrounding villages still held by the militants, activists and officials said.
Pushing the militants out of Kobani after a bloody, four-month campaign was a significant boost for both the Kurds and the U.S.-led coalition. The U.S. Central Central Command said it estimated that 90 percent of Kobani was now controlled by Kurdish forces.
From Kobani, Kurdish troops took the fight Tuesday to the village of Shiran, southeast of the town, said Mustafa Bali, a Kobani-based activist. Earlier in the day, they captured the nearby village of Qarah Hlanj. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the capture of Qarah Hlanj and said the fighting near Shiran has intensified.
The victory in Kobani came at a high cost.
"The city has been fully liberated," said senior Kurdish official Idriss Nassan. But, he said, Kobani is "nearly destroyed."
In September, the Islamic State captured about 300 Kurdish villages and hamlets near Kobani and thrust into the town itself, occupying nearly half of it and sending tens of thousands of residents fleeing into Turkey.
The scope of the destruction likely will make it hard for refugees to return anytime soon.
Information for this article was contributed by Omar Akour, Jon Gambrell, Maamoun Youssef, Bassem Mroue, Suzan Fraser and Kaori Hitomi of The Associated Press.
A Section on 01/28/2015