IS executes Chinese and Norwegian hostages

BEIRUT: The Islamic State (IS) group said on Wednesday it has killed a Chinese and a Norwegian hostage, two months after it had demanded a ransom for the pair's release.

The group's English-language Dabiq magazine featured graphic photos of what appeared to be the bloodied bodies of Chinese hostage Fan Jinghui and Norwegian Ole-Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad.



The bodies were pictured adjacent to photos of the blindfolded captives apparently taken just before their execution-style killings. A stamp-like caption overlaid on the full-page photo read, "Executed after being abandoned by the kafir [disbeliever] nations and organisations."

It was unclear how they were killed, but their heads were bloodied by apparent gunshot wounds. The Norwegian prime minister's office said the photos "seem to show that the hostage Grimsgaard-Ofstead was executed. We are still verifying it."



It was the 12th edition of IS's publication, one of many branches of the militant organisation's multilingual media machine.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2015.