U.S. President Barack Obama gestures as he answers a question during his end of the year press conference
IN PHOTO: U.S. President Barack Obama gestures as he answers a question during his end of the year press conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, December 19, 2014. Obama and his family plan to depart Washington later in the day to spend the holidays in Hawaii. Reuters/Stringer

U.S. President Barack Obama has acknowledged that ISIS has a female American hostage. He declared that the U.S. will “deploy all assets” to find the hostage and bring her back to safety.

In an interview with NBC, Mr Obama spoke briefly about the hostage situation. He said the U.S. is working with its coalition allies to determine the hostage’s exact location. The government maintains contact with her family. “Our obligation is to do anything we can to make sure an American citizen is rescued from this situation,” he said.

Following ISIS’ execution of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto, Mr Obama denounced the group and called it a “barbaric act.” Previous reports indicate authorities were hoping ISIS will spare Goto after militants offered to exchange him for a prisoner in Jordan. The development had raised the possibility of another prisoner exchange for the remaining female American hostage, CBS News reports.

Despite the U.S. highlighting the successful airstrikes in Kobani, former U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates criticised the way the Obama administration is handling the fight against ISIS. He argued that small teams of Special Forces should be used on the ground in Iraq and Syria to complement airstrikes.

He told NBC’s Meet the Press that the U.S. strategy against the militants was “unrealistic” and “unattainable.” Gates, who acted as Secretary of Defence both for Mr Obama and George W. Bush, believes a few hundred troops should be assigned in the region.

Gates has called on the U.S. government to develop a strategy that would deny ISIS troops the ability to seize territory as a base of operations to plot against the U.S. and its allies. While the airstrikes have driven militants from Kobani, Gates said ISIS will not leave Iraq and Syria unless the U.S. uses a new tactic.

Meanwhile, counter-terrorism experts and analysts have concluded while scrutinising ISIS beheading videos that some hostages appeared compliant before being executed. The experts told ABC that the hostages may have already faced mock executions on camera as the videos were meant to scare their families.

Intelligence officials continue to look for clues in the images contained in a recent execution video of the Japanese hostage. Japanese journalist Kenji Goto was the seventh high-profile hostage to be beheaded.

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