A Pakistani man freed from captivity in Iraq last week said today he saw his captors behead three hostages - two Americans and an Iraqi - while he was being held.
His account could not be independently confirmed and there have been no recent reports of two Americans and an Iraqi being abducted.
Previously, militants have been quick to announce the taking of hostages, usually releasing videotapes showing armed, masked men standing threateningly over the captives.
Mr Amjad Hafeez, a driver working for a US contractor, was taken hostage on June 25th as he returned from work north of Baghdad. He was blindfolded and taken to a nearby house.
Four days into his captivity, Mr Hafeez said he was able to see one of his captors cut the heads off three other hostages.
"The faces of all three were covered with white cloths," Mr Hafeez said, a day after returning to Pakistan following his release on July 2nd.
"One of them was crying 'please, please' ... but they beheaded him. The two others did not speak," he said by telephone from Rawalpindi.
"The kidnappers shouted Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest) thrice before beheading each of them in turn," he added.
Mr Hafeez said his captors told him two of the hostages were American and one was an Iraqi soldier.
Kidnappers are currently holding two Bulgarians and a Filipino, all drivers working in Iraq, and have threatened to behead them if their demands are not met.
Two hostages have previously been beheaded in Iraq - Nicholas Berg, an American who was looking for contracting work, and a South Korean translator, Kim Sun-il.